The Mark of Athena
by PeaceLoveAndCheese
Summary: Hey. Hey, you. Click on that title up there. I know, you're thinking, "What? Another MoA fic? No way am I clicking that!" But seriously, click it. It's got humor, danger, mystery, Percy, Leo, Jason, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Piper, pairings, and some randomness, but whatever. The best MoA under the sun! Or under the FanFiction category. This one's different, I promise. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, everybody!  
>Within the few hours that I posted my first fic, I got many reviews wanting to get more. So hear you go! Thanks to my first reviewers: MissAnnThropee, StarrySea, , &amp; Zelly Beans! Oh, and the ones who favorited it: , KPtwistepghost, and Zelly Beans! You guys are all amazing and now I shall return the favor.<strong>

**Please excuse any mess ups in formatting. This is my first published multi-chap and so I'm trying to figure it out.**

**Disclaimer: Percy: Does she look like she owns me?**

**Me: No. (crying) Sadly.**

**Percy: There you go. **

I

Percy

As soon as the first person stepped off of the ship, Percy knew he was going to die.

Okay, back up. They had just come out of a senate meeting, in which Percy, very stupidly, had sworn on his life that he was telling the truth and the Greeks would be friendly and not attack, blah blah blah. And now Octavian only needed one tiny conflict to be able to, very happily, kill him. And for Octavian, Percy suspected that would happen in only a matter of time. Conflict or no.

And then, a giant flying Greek warship was descending down on the Romans, and not very smoothly either.

Perfect first impression, guys, Percy thought sarcastically, then felt guilty. This was his family, after all. But the Romans were like a second cousin of his grandma's sister's brother-in-law. Twice removed. They were still family. And he couldn't turn against either of them.

The warship came to the ground with a gentle bump. A couple of Romans who were too close fell over. Octavian grinned. Percy could practically read his mind. Oh, wonderful, wonderful. All of the Greeks are bumbling idiots. This is going to be way too easy.

"Shut up," Percy muttered.

Hazel turned at the sound of his voice. She and Frank were standing in front of Percy, all of them at the back of the crowd.

"What?"

Percy shook his head. "Nothing. Octavian's being stupid."

Hazel glanced over at him, then turned back to Percy, brow furrowed. "Um... Percy?"

"In my head."

Hazel nodded and rolled her eyes, then turned back to the ship. Percy sighed inwardly. Here went nothing.

A guy with dark, curly hair and bronze skin climbed up on the mast.

"Hi-ho, Romans! It is I, your lovable Admiral of the Argo II, Leo Valdez! I have brought your new allies in the Giant War to you! No need to thank me, all part of the job!"

A pretty girl- daughter of Aphrodite, Percy thought- with brown, choppy hair swung up next to Leo. "Ignore him, everybody. Leo can sometimes be..."

"Awesome?" Leo shouted. "Let me hear the love!"

Silence.

"Okay, Ima gonna go get... uh... I mean... I'll just-"

"Go get him," Piper said meaningfully. Percy didn't know who she was talking about. But he had a feeling it was important.

"Okay, Beauty Queen," Leo said, jumping off of the mast.

"Good. And don't call me Beauty Queen!" Piper yelled after him.

The Romans stood there eyeing her. Piper began to twitch under their scrutiny.

Just when Percy thought she was about to blurt something out, Leo reappeared beside her, this time with another blonde haired guy.

The assembled Roman demigods roared. Percy didn't know why.

"Uh... who is that?" He asked. Frank shrugged, but Hazel, her eyes shining, said, "That's Jason Grace, our praetor-" She broke off. "Uh, former praetor, I guess."

Back on the ship, Leo was fiddling with some control thing. He muttered to himself, and pressed a button. A hatch slid open, stairs folded out. Leo smiled, satisfied.

A bunch of Greek demigods were gathered behind the door. A couple tried to step off, but Leo stopped them.

"Whoa! Wait, I forgot something! Let's see..." He pressed another button, and a red carpet unfurled onto the stairs. Leo grinned. "You can go now." He followed them off the ship.

The Greek hesitantly stepped off the ship and down into the waiting crowd of Romans. Octavian, unfortunately, had gotten to the front of the crowd, drew his sword, and pointed it at the Greeks.

"One more step, foreigners, and my soldiers will be ever too happy to kill you."

The Greek demigods all looked at one another uneasily. They had expected this, but weren't sure how to react.

"Drop your weapons," Octavian ordered.

The group unsheathed swords, bows and arrows, knives, spears, shotguns, a bunch of potions, some Greek fire, and... a cow? What the heck.

In Leo's case, he kept digging things out of a toolbelt at his waist. Hammers, saws, brushes, wooden planks, tofu burgers, taco meat, a huge plastic orange whistle, and even breath mints. Percy shook his head. He wasn't sure about how he felt about this guy, but he knew that he was probably a joker.

Leo finally finished unloading his tool belt.

"There! Wait... aw, come on!" He fished around in there some more and pulled out paper, blueprints, fingernail polish? Leo blushed. "That's Piper's."

Up on the ship with Jason, Piper rolled her eyes.

Leo blew his hair up and settled with throwing his toolbelt down onto the tall pile of his junk. All of the Greeks then stepped back.

Octavian nodded, seemingly with satisfaction, but Percy could tell he was annoyed because he didn't get to kill them.

"Good, good, now... um..." Octavian was trying to think of some other stupid command that he could give. Percy sighed and started trying to elbow his way to the front of the crowd.

But the Romans were too tightly packed. If Percy wanted to get up there, he'd have to go about half a mile around. He turned and started searching for a gap.

**And there's the first chapter! I'll try to update regularly, but no promises. My life is kind of hectic right now, but I'll still try. I'll upload chapter two at this moment!**

**Read and Review! All Flames belong to Leo!**


	2. Chapter 2

II

Frank

Frank was in awe.

First of all, flying ship? Completely amazing. A cow for a weapon? Sweet! Not to mention most of the hot girls that were on that ship. But he had to remind himself that those girls were for some other lucky guy. He had Hazel.

He looked to the side, just to see her face. She was smiling, her eyes alight with wonder, her face glowing. Beautiful.

Frank turned to see what Percy thought of the ship, but he was gone. Oh, well. Frank would find him later.

A bunch of demigods stepped off of the ship. Octavian started being a butt, but Frank's attention was on a guy in the back. Hispanic. Curly hair. The one who made Hazel's breath catch in her throat.

Frank studied him uneasily. It was that Sammy/Leo guy. Hazel apparently had a thing for him. Or did anyway. Frank wasn't too sure on where she was now, but he didn't want to ask her.

Hazel looked like she was going to cry, especially when the Leo person said another girl's name. Frank grabbed her around the shoulders and brought her into him. She relaxed.

Leo was now desperately trying to keep the demigods from killing each other. The Romans glared threateningly and hefted their weapons. The Greeks tried to look submissive but not weak as they hefted their cow.

Octavian was muttering to himself and generally looking crazy. Frank sighed. Oh, boy, this should be interesting.

But before anything could happen, three other demigods stepped off the boat.

One was the pretty girl who had been with Leo before. Another was the blonde guy, who Frank suspected was Jason. He and the girl were holding hands, which made Hazel sigh with relief. Frank frowned. He didn't like this Leo guy, if he could make Hazel this nervous.

The last person was a pretty blonde haired girl. Not Venus gorgeous, but pretty none the less. She had stormy grey eyes that swept over the crowd, as if searching for someone, although Frank didn't know who.

Reyna pushed her way to the front. She stood, staring at Jason, and then swiftly strode forward and hugged him.

Jason stood stock still for a moment, then reached out and hugged her back. Reyna broke away first.

"Our praetor, Jason Grace, has returned!" She said. The crowd roared and surged forwards, much to the alarm of the Greeks, who backed up so fast that some of them ran into the boat.

People were mobbing Jason, shaking his hand, hugging him. He smiled and nodded, but looked a little overwhelmed. He caught sight of Hazel.

"Hey, Haze! How's it been!" He smiled at her, then saw Frank. His face wrinkled in confusion. "Sorry... I don't think I remember you."

Frank laughed. "S'okay. I showed up in the fabulous Camp Jupiter a little while after you disappeared. I'm Frank Zhang, Centurion of the Fifth Legion, who, by the way, have not shut up about you."

Jason smiled and shook his hand. "Hi, Frank. You probably know who I am."

Frank nodded and Jason laughed. Then someone grabbed his attention again.

The blonde haired girl had been looking around all this time, her eyes like a storm, fast and dangerous. She looked about ready to explode. Jason noticed, and motioned to Reyna.

"Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have a son of Neptune around here, would you?"

Reyna nodded and looked around, puzzled. "Huh. That's funny. Percy was here a minute ago."

The blonde relaxed when she heard Percy's name.

The Romans had grown bored of this now. Most of them had started wandering off, having greeted their former praetor. The crowd was thinning and people could get through easier.

Suddenly, a voice rang out. "Guys? Annabeth? Hello! Can you hear me? Hey!" And Percy Jackson burst through the throngs of people, breathing hard. He stood stock still, staring at the blonde, Annabeth, who was doing the same thing, right across from him.

"Percy," she said.

"Annabeth," he replied.

And then, at the same time, as if they couldn't wait any longer, both of them rushed towards each other.

Annabeth was immediately wrapped into Percy's arms. She clung to him, saying his name over and over again, like she was trying to make up for the lost time.

Percy had his face pressed against her hair. He was clutching her tightly, like if he loosened his grip even for a fraction of a second, he'd be off on another wild joyride of missing people and no memories. He was shaking.

Annabeth was sobbing now. And who could blame her? These two, who had barely been apart for six months at a time, with contact, since they were twelve, had not seen or even heard from each other in almost a year. Frank figured that Annabeth had a right to cry.

All at once, Percy's legs gave way and he sank onto the cold dirt ground. Since he was basically holding Annabeth up, he brought her down with him. They sat on the ground together, Annabeth crying onto Percy's shoulder, Percy stroking her hair, his hand trembling.

They stayed like that for at least a full five minutes. During that time, no one moved or made a single sound, not wanting to interrupt the moment. Well, except for Octavian, who cleared his throat a couple times, but was silenced by a glare from Reyna.

Finally, Percy lifted his head. His eyes were red, but they were shining, like the sea when the sun reflects on it. His black hair was rumpled, but Frank had never seen anyone look so happy.

He stood up, shakily, and offered a hand to Annabeth. She took it and he hoisted her up. She smiled at him and wiped her eyes, clutching his hand.

He looked towards the Greeks.

"Hey guys-" His voice broke. Frank could see his green eyes gleaming as he gazed at his friends. "I'm back."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, you guys! After much thought, I decided to update today! So here you go! Chapter 4 will hopefully be up today or tomorrow. I don't really like this story as much as I thought I would. It's not my best writing, and sorry if the characters are a little OC. I tried. Oh, well, we can't all be perfect. And you guys seem to like it, so I'll keep updating, if you keep reviewing. I just want to know someone's reading this and actually waiting for me to update, even if it's a monkey from Mars. One person can change anything. : )**

**Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan, this would be published.**

III

Jason

Jason watching in stunned silence as Percy Jackson was mobbed by his friends. Who knew that they loved him this much? Sure Jason had heard everyone talk about nothing except for Percy.

Like that one time...

_Flashback._

_Jason was hammering planks onto the Argo II. Leo needed all the help he could get, especially now. They were about a week away from being done, and Leo hadn't slept for days. Jason had caught him snoring against the mast this morning and made him go back to his cabin. Leo had protested, but eventually Jason was able to convince him to just rest for an hour, then come back. But Leo still hadn't reappeared. Oh, well. The poor guy needed it._

_A couple feet away, the Stoll brothers were arguing over if they should mess up Leo's paint job before he got back._

_"We need the ship to be ready!" Travis yelled at his brother._

_"It'll still be ready," Connor argued back._

_"Yeah, but Leo'll probably kill us and then we won't be able to go find Percy-" Travis stopped in mid-sentence. The pair looked down at their feet._

_"I miss him," Connor said._

_"Yeah," Travis agreed. "He'd never get mad at us like everyone else."_

_"And Annabeth was so much happier!" Connor exclaimed._

_The two glanced over at where the daughter of Athena was busy mapping battle strategies. They shuddered._

_Jason walked over. "Hey, I've been getting snippets, but I still don't see why you guys are so desperate to find him. I mean, what exactly did he do?"_

_Connor and Travis looked at him in disbelief._

_"What did he do? He saved the world!" Connor said._

_"Like, three times," Travis added._

_"And the camp twice."_

_"He fought Kronos, Iaepetus, Hyperion, Atlas..."_

_"And a whole bunch of monsters."_

_"He's got a pegasus named Blackjack and a sword-pen named Riptide."_

_"And he's invincible!" Connor finished._

_"Wow," Jason said._

But he hadn't gotten the full extent of Percy Jackson's awesomeness even then. Only now, when he actually saw the guy, did he realize just how powerful Percy Jackson really was.

Percy was hugging everyone within arms reach. Everyone was hugging him back and punching him and Jason saw a few people even crying. Then the Stoll brothers burst out of the crowd and ran over to Percy.

"PERCY!" They screamed.

He laughed. "Hey, guys."

"Um, just so you know, some things may be missing from your cabin when you get back..."

Percy glared at them. "If you touched my plants or my minotaur horn or my shield, I will kill you."

They looked at each other, then ran away. Percy yelled after them. "Or my fountain, or my bed, or my clothes, or anything!" He looked like he was about to take off after them, when Clarisse La Rue came up to him. Jason winced. He had sparred Clarisse a couple of times, and did not like it one bit.

"Jackson."

"La Rue," he grinned cockily at her.

"You. Me. Arena. I'm gonna whoop your butt so bad you'll wish you were still missing."

"Glad to see you care, Clarisse."

"Well, I couldn't have you dying when I still owe you one."

Percy nodded. Just then, something furry tackled him.

"Perrrrr-cy! Do you have any idea how worried we were? How could you do something like this? I've had nature spirits and satyrs practically tearing up the Wild searching for you!"

Percy hugged him. "Hey, G-man. I'm sorry, but I didn't really have a choice."

The satyr nodded, then squeezed back. "I know, I know. But you've got no idea how worried I was! I mean, I get you this far, and then-POOF-you're AWOL."

Percy laughed, clapped him on the back and turned back to the throngs of campers waiting to greet their leader.

After about half an hour, the madness surrounding Percy had calmed down. Most of the Greek campers had gone back to the ship, but a few, including the Stolls, had gone to see what they could find in the Roman camp. Jason was kind of worried, but he figured that the worst was he'd have to go file some paperwork. You know, death insurance forms and apology letters and whatnot. He didn't realize what Percy had done until later.

Anyway, a silence fell over the little group of Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and Leo. Grover was there, too. The silence wasn't exactly uncomfortable. Percy and Annabeth were gazing at each other, Hazel was staring at Leo for some reason, Frank was staring at Hazel, Piper was staring at Jason, Leo was staring at his ship, and Jason was staring at nothing in particular, pretty much just drinking his home in.

Of course, Leo broke the silence.

"So... you're the famous Percy Jackson?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. You're Leo, right?"

Leo did some goofy elaborate bow. "At your service."

Percy turned to Piper and Jason. "So you guys are..."

Piper extended her hand. "Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite."

Percy looked confused. "McLean, as in-"

"Yes," Piper cut him off.

"So you must be Jason."

Jason jumped. "What? Oh, yeah. Hi." They eyed each other for a while, but Percy broke away first.

"Hey, everyone else is probably looking around. You guys should get a grand tour, too." He gestured to Frank, Hazel, and Jason. "Lead on."

"What about you?" Leo asked him.

Percy laughed. "Me? I've been here a grand total of three days. I can barely find the barracks." He slung his arm around Annabeth, face glowing.

Jason couldn't help smiling. Percy seemed like a nice guy. In even the few seconds he'd known him, he already liked him.

Maybe this wouldn't be so hard...


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys, I'm back! And it's to give you another chapter today! This will probably be the last one until Wednesday, the first real day I have to work on stuff. But who knows. Homework and blahblahblah might capture me. You know how it is. Possible update tomorrow, but I wouldn't count on it... probably. This one is kind of short, but I like it, and it sets up the next chapter really well. Oh, boy, wait till you see what's in store next.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Percy, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Annabeth, Piper, Octavian, Reyna, Clarisse, the Stolls... do you get the picture?**

IV

Piper

To say the least: Camp Jupiter was amazing.

Piper could only gaze around in wonder as Hazel and Frank led them through it. Jason was too busy running around like a little kid, re-exploring his home.

"Hey, did you see the city?" He asked, dashing up to her and grinning.

_Gods, he's cute, _Piper thought. Before she could say anything, though, he was off again.

Leo seemed oddly distracted, fiddling with his clothes because of the fact that his tool belt had been taken away. He kept glancing around, like he was worried about something, which wasn't like him.

"You okay?" Piper asked him. He jumped.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah. I just..." He looked around again. "I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen."

Well, that made Piper kind of nervous. Emphasis on kind of. She knew that demigod feelings were often accurate, but then again, this was Leo they were talking about. He had never said anything like this before, so Piper brushed it off.

Annabeth and Percy were now looking at a set of stables.

"Unicorns," Hazel explained. "You guys have pegasus, don't you? Well, these can't fly, but they run pretty fast. Arion is stabled in there too."

"Arion's Hazel's horse," Piper heard Percy whisper to Annabeth. "He's kind of... different." She laughed.

"Different how?"

"I'll explain later." They both laughed.

Piper was about to indulge in some Drew-like thoughts, but mentally kicked herself before she could.

They had made it to the top of a hill. Piper gasped.

The sun was setting over the horizon, bathing the camp in pink and blue and orange. The temples looked like they were gold-framed and glowing in the slowly fading light. People scurried about, looking like ants down in the city, rushing home from wherever they had been all day. Unicorns ran through the fields, horns glinting.

"It's beautiful," Annabeth said.

Hazel smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, it is," Frank agreed.

Piper was speechless and surprisingly, so was Leo.

Jason joined them. "Oh. You found it," he said in small voice. "This is my favorite spot." He slung his arm around Piper's shoulder.

Piper smiled and glanced around the circle. Most everyone was gazing down at Camp Jupiter, except for two.

Percy was staring away, towards the east, towards the ocean. And Leo was staring at him, with a strange expression, like he was deep in thought. Neither of them looked very engaged in the conversation. Piper decided to have a little fun.

She went up and tapped Leo on the shoulder.

Leo jumped a foot in the air, like it had been Jason who had just touched him and given him an electric shock (literally), not Piper.

"Geez, Beauty Queen, you scared me," he muttered.

"Leo, what's up? I've never seen you this quiet. What's the deal?"

Leo looked uneasily at Percy, and bit his lip. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, when a horn blew in the distance.

Everyone turned.

"What was that?" asked Annabeth.

"Senate meeting," said Percy. "Time for fun with Octavian."

**DunDunDun. Fun with Octavian. You know, I'm pretty sure the only one who thinks 'Fun with Octavian' is actually fun is Octavian. And what's with Leo? Some big bad secret. Oh, yeah, the whole Leo/Frank/Hazel love triangle thing. I'll get to that, I promise, but first, we need the last of the seven and a quest to Greece issued! Rome too! So all this and more next time on... SURVIVOR! Just kidding, none of this would be on Survivor, and if it was, I wouldn't know. PS. I don't own that, either.**

**All flames belong to Leo! Literally.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, you guys! I'm so, so sorry I haven't updated before this. I'm not going to give you excuses or anything, because you wouldn't listen to them anyway. I'll just say I had three big projects due at the end of the week (one involved building a thermometer that actually worked) and my life was really crazy with homework. So yeah. But to make it up to you, I've given you an extra long chapter! Almost two thousand words! Enjoy!**

V  
>Annabeth<p>

Personally, Annabeth found the Roman senate meeting boring.

She had seen U.S. Senate meetings on TV, and they were much more interesting. Even if almost nothing happened, and if something did happen, it was over a problem that a group of third graders could've figured out in half an hour.

She had read that Roman senate meetings were like, where everything worth noting in her history books happened. Julius Caesar's assassination, Tiberius's murder, Publius Clodius Pulcher's killing... wow, these things were bloody.

Percy must have seen her face, because he whispered, "Don't worry. Nothing like that has happened for... this is June, right? Um... if you count Gwen, about a week."

Well, that didn't reassure her at all.

Anyway, her first clue that this was NOT going to be anything like ancient Roman senate meetings was when she and Percy walked into the room and two girls were standing in a corner, debating about who was hotter, Jason or Percy. Like that was going to help decide who the praetorship went to. Which, by the way, had been a running argument between the son of Jupiter and son of Poseidon all day.

And then that one skinny blonde kid, Octavian, was arranging stuffed animals ceremoniously on pillows. He adjusted a lion, then stepped back to admire his work. Okay, that was just creepy. What self-respecting teenager collects stuffed toys?

Plus, over on the outskirts of the room, the Stoll brothers were looting everyone in sight. Luckily, they had plenty of practice stealing from armed A.D.H.D teens back at camp, otherwise Annabeth was sure they would have been violently killed by now.

Percy led Annabeth to a seat in the front row. The room was set up with bleachers, except nicer, all around it, and a table with twelve chairs set up in the center.

"I'll be up there." Percy pointed to the chair in the middle. "That is, unless Jason decides to stop being so stubborn and let me give him his position back."

Annabeth smiled and gave him a gentle shove. He grinned at her, straightened his toga (which couldn't seem to stay on), and strode up to the table, where a few other people were gathering.

Annabeth sat and studied the people for a while. There was that leader girl, Reyna, talking to Percy and wearing a matching purple toga. Another guy, who was wearing a redish-purple toga, was taking swigs from a flask and staggering around the table. Frank came in, wearing a blue toga with fred flames embroidered into it. Reyna went over to discuss something with hime.

As soon as she had left, Octavian came over and shoved Percy, gently enough to look like there was no harm done, hard enough to make Percy stumble. Percy glared at him. Octavian smiled back at him, sending him a message with his eyes. _I still have control over you._

Percy met his eyes. Octavian stared back at him. Percy swallowed, and turned away.

_Well, that's odd,_ Annabeth thought. She studied Octavian. _He does look familiar... somehow... _

There was a thought, hovering just outside her consciousness. Before she could grasp it, Reyna interrupted her thoughts.

"Let the Senate meeting commence!"

Everyone was immediately silent. The chairs were filled, both around the table and in the spectators seats.

Piper had come and sat down by Annabeth. Jason was on her other side. Leo was sitting to Annabeth's right, fingers drumming on the armrests, his knees, Annabeth's arm. When he caught himself doing that, he blushed.

"Sorry."

Annabeth looked at him like, _What the heck, Leo? _Leo turned away. Annabeth shook her head. Leo, Leo, Leo.

Percy was talking now. Drat the A.D.H.D. She had missed whatever had gone on before.

"As you know, my friends from the other camp arrived today," Percy said. "And, apparently, three of the Prophecy of the Seven came with them." Percy gestured to Piper, Jason, and Leo. "You guys know Jason, but this is Piper and Leo. While I was... erm, not here, they went on a quest, I guess, saved Hera, and defeated a giant. So, it's kind of obvious."

"Wait!" Octavian stood up. "How can we be sure? Last time someone tried to complete the Prophecy of the Seven, it ended up... less than satisfactory."

Percy blew his hair out of his eyes. "Yes, Octavian, I know. We all know. You've only brought it up a hundred times. But I have this fact under good authority that the Prophecy has started."

Jason got out of his chair. "What's the Prophecy of the Seven?"

Octavian laughed. "Oh, yes, your little... problem with remembering. The Prophecy of the Seven would be-"

"The Great Prophecy," Percy cut him off. "_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call/to storm or fire the world must fall/an oath to keep with a final breath/and foes bear arms to the doors of death._"

All of the Greeks in the room nodded.

"Then I guess that you'd know what this means." Octavian folded his arms over his chest, like _Got you_.

"No. You're the augur, Octavian." Percy sent him the same look.

"Oh, so you just bring this up for no apparent reason and then say you have no clue what you're talking about? No wonder you're praetor."

"Octavian, you-"

Reyna pushed Percy away. "Okay, that's enough. We don't need to know exactly what the prophecy means. We just need to figure out who the seven half-bloods are. Since Percy thinks that Jason, Piper and Leo are three of the seven, they probably are. And I think that Frank, Hazel, and Percy make it six."

A centurion spoke up from the table. "Then who's the seventh?"

"That... I do not know," Reyna said. "Hopefully, they'll show up. Now, though, we need to discuss the next step."

Jason went up to the table. "On our quest, we were told that Gaea was going to tear the gods up by their roots. From the original Mt. Olympus. We need to go to Greece."

Hazel appeared from somewhere in the crowd. "He's right. We were also told to go to Rome. Nico's there."

"The ambassador of Pluto? You're going to Rome just to see him?" Octavian scoffed. "I'm pretty sure we can deal without his help."

Hazel glared at him. "Not just because of Nico. We got a prophecy too... or, part of one." She cleared her throat and glanced at Annabeth. "_Wisdom's daughter walks alone/the Mark of Athena burns through Rome._"

Suddenly, Leo shot out of his seat. "Where did you hear that?"

Hazel stepped back, startled. "I-we- I mean..." She bit her lip and glanced at Frank.

"Mars showed up during the quest," Percy said. Annabeth got the feeling he wasn't lying, but it wasn't exactly the whole truth, either. She made a mental note to interrogate him later. "Do you know it?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. I dreamt something about it... last night. It had a couple more lines that went with it, though."

"What, Leo?" Jason asked.

"I can't exactly remember."

"Oh. Well, it doesn't really matter, I guess. We've got enough information to figure out that the prophecy is talking about a Greek daughter of Athena."

"Why a Greek?" Octavian said.

"Because, Octavian, a Roman can't be a daughter of _Athena_. Athena is Greek," Reyna explained in a voice that sounded like she was ready to hit him, an emotion Annabeth could read all over Percy's face.

Octavian shrugged and sat down.

Reyna rubbed her forehead. "Now that that's cleared up, shall we get down to business? How will the seven get to Greece and Rome? When? What will we do while they're gone. We can't just sit here."

Annabeth decided it was time for her to put a word in. "You can prepare for war. This isn't just going to blow over."

"Although the gods seem to think so," Jason muttered.

"The seven-or six- should probably have left around the twenty-first. Unfortunately, it's too late for that," Annabeth was thinking hard now.

"Hey, we'll wing it. Worked before," Leo said. "The Argo II is ready to go."

"Perfect," Reyna decided. "The ones of the prophecy shall leave on the Argo II as soon as they see fit. Counsel adjourned."

Everyone pretty much flooded out of the room. The bleachers were empty in a matter of seconds. Percy, Frank, and Reyna came towards the others.

Percy let out a breath. "Well, that's over. Ugh, I really want to fight something. Preferably Octavian." He kicked at the ground. "Then I could kick his butt with a good reason."

Jason nodded. "I've wanted to do that pretty much every day."

Reyna collapsed in a chair. "Okay, well, you guys had better get ready. Octavian is probably reading his stuffing to see how he could stop you before you leave."

Percy nodded slowly. "Before we break up, though, any of you have any idea of who the seventh is?"

All heads turned towards Annabeth.

"What?" Annabeth asked. Then it clicked. "Oh... the prophecy."

Percy nodded. "If Frank, Hazel, and I heard it and Leo heard it in a dream, it's gotta mean something. And Hera sent me a dream... last night? I forget. But I'm pretty sure it's you."

"I have to admit, it's pretty certain," Jason agreed. "_Wisdom's daughter walks alone. _There is only a small number of people that could be, and you're one of them. And the most likely.

"_The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,_" Piper said. "Athena equals Greek. All the clues point to you."

Annabeth looked at Percy. He had his head cocked slightly, studying her, like _How can I get her out of this?_

She smiled at him. "It's okay. If I can survive one war, I can survive two. I'll be the Mark of Athena."

"I guess you're going too, then," Reyna said, standing up. "Good luck with this bunch." She elbowed Jason playfully, then Percy. They both shoved her back.

As everyone turned to leave, a voice called, "Wait."

They all turned. It was Leo. He was looking down at the ground, fidgeting, like he was trying to decide whether or not he should say something.

"Annabeth's not the Mark of Athena," Leo said. "Percy is."

**Huh. Well, that's not exactly the way I wanted it to go... oh well, it turned out pretty good, I guess. And MWA HA HA HA! I know what you're all thinking. "What? Why the heck is Percy the Mark of Athena? This makes no sense!" Well, I promise that it'll all kind of make since in the next chapter, which, by the way, is in Leo's POV. Just a hint: All the other titles are about Percy: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune. See? So I don't want to break tradition. So the Mark of Athena is Percy. And that's the way it is. **

**Review! All flames belong to Leo! And if you flame too hard, he's not going to be able to catch them all and then I won't be able to update, because one of the main characters is out of action! :P**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya, peeps! I felt so bad with leaving you with just that, so I decided to give you at least part of the puzzle. The rest I'm working on. It'll be a reference from one of the other books (before HoO) so I need to do some research! Hera is going to pop in on Percy in a dream again (or possibly somewhere random), so that's the next chapter. It'll be in... Hazel's POV? Percy's? I'm not exactly sure about that yet. But, anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan (which I'm not) I wouldn't be wasting time on this. I'd be writing the actual book that we are all waiting so patiently for! Seriously, seven months to go. *Sob* : (**

VI

Leo

Leo had to admit, the attention was nice.

Usually, in Leo's life, everyone was paying attention to the awesome people, the ones who could do the cool stuff, like Jason, or Percy, or even Piper. The only ones who had never noticed Leo was his mom (and that wasn't happening again any time soon), Jason and Piper (but that had only been in the past eight months), the Hephaestus cabin (when he was ordering them around), and monsters (when he was on fire or about to kill them).

And now, everyone in the room was watching him.

Okay, fine, there were only eight, including him, but still. It was pretty cool.

"What... are you talking about, Leo?" Percy asked, looking at him like he had burst into flame, which wouldn't have surprised Leo if it had happened.

"I had a dream last night," Leo said. "Hera decided to interrupt my watch duty and knock me out while she gave me some stupid message. I mean, why couldn't she have done that to someone who was actually asleep?"

"She did," Percy said. "I dreamt about her too. I kind of... got mad and dumped her in a river. But I was sure that she said... the one who was closest to me would cause me the most trouble."

Annabeth winced. "Hera... it isn't enough that we've saved her butt like, twice? She just has to make things difficult, doesn't she?"

Percy nodded. His eyes looked like they were on fire. Leo took a step back, just in case the guy decided to go all ninja on them.

"Well, anyway, she told me this prophecy," Leo said. "_Beware the revenge of the one skull crowned/Falling from ice, the Son of Neptune shall drown/Wisdom's daughter walks alone/The Mark of Athena burns through Rome._"

Now everyone was looking at both Annabeth and Percy.

Percy still looked like he was going to kick something. "I though that was over with. Gah! Stupid prophecies..." He trailed off and started muttering to himself in Greek.

Leo looked at him cautiously. "Okay, what do you mean?"

"We got that prophecy on our quest, when Percy fell of a glacier in Alaska with an army of ghosts and survived," Hazel said.

Leo was pretty sure that his lower jaw had detached from his face. "You... what?"

Annabeth just rolled her eyes at Percy. "Yeah, that's Seaweed Brain. Always doing something stupid."

"And saving our butts," Frank added.

"And then she started spouting some mystic mumbo about how Annabeth and Percy, or the 'Cursed Couple' would destroy the world and each other with their fatal flaws-" Percy and Annabeth squeezed hands, but Leo went on, too hyped to notice. "-and then I'd get a clue about my mom's family and whatever, and something about bewaring the cheese..." Leo stopped, realizing how confusing that was. "I don't know why that's important."

"Ella," Hazel muttered.

"Word, no cheese," Frank said.

"Weed wackers," Percy said.

"Okay..." Jason looked at them like they had all started dancing to a Justin Beiber song, while wearing giant clown shoes and tutus. In other words, like they had gone crazy.

"Well, what I mean to say, is that we shouldn't really take her that seriously. I mean, cheese? Really? That was NOT significant," Leo said.

"I don't know..." Annabeth said. "Hera is not my favorite, but when a goddess talks to two different people, in one night, against Zeus's orders, you should probably listen. Just saying."

"Yeah," Hazel said, all too quickly. "You never know."

Percy and Frank nodded rapidly, like they had suddenly morphed into bobble heads.

Leo decided to worry about their un-natural behavior later. "So, apparently, something big is going to go down with-" Before Leo could say anything else, a face appeared in the air right in front of them.

**Well, that was surprising. I'm not sure where I was going with this, but I must admit, I kind of like it. But anyway! Hopefully, I'll update, you'll find out what is up with the face and the prophecy and whatnot, and the world won't end, hmm? We shall see. BTW, is anyone watching the Academy Awards tonight? I is! Billy Crystal is hosting, so it should be epic! But first, I must finish my homework! Three projects due tomorrow. Ugh, what is it with my teachers these days?**

**I don't think I need to say this anymore. Review, and all flames belong to Leo!**


	7. Chapter 7

**OmiBob, I'm so, so sorry, guys! I haven't updated in like, two weeks! I'm so sorry! I just needed to get all my thoughts in order, and I have to say, this is my favorite chapter since the Percabeth reunion! Everything is explained and hopefully it'll make you go, "Oh! That makes sense!" If not, I am sorry. I have failed as a writer. Almost 2,000 words here, peeps (not including A/N)! Excuse me if I suddenly switch into first person. This chapter was hard to keep writing in third, I'm so used to Percy's first. I think I got it all right, though. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: None of us here at Fanfiction own Percy Jackson, because none of us are Rick Riordan (I'm sorry, but it's true.)**

VII

Percy

To say Percy was freaking out would be a complete understatement.

He felt like everything was spiraling out of control.

For three reasons:

1)Octavian

2)Octavian

3)Octavian

Four could've been Octavian too.

And Leo had freaked them all out with his whole _Percy is the subject of another prophecy, yippee! Now he can stress about dying for the next twelve hours! Lets celebrate!_

And now there was some sort of decapitated body part floating in the air in front of them.

About half the people in the room screamed: Reyna, Frank, Hazel, and, unfortunately, Leo.

"Um, guys, it's an Iris-message," Jason said.

"Oh, right, I totally knew that," Leo said, rubbing a hand through his hair and making his curls go haywire.

"Or totally didn't," Piper said.

Annabeth stepped forwards. "Malcolm?"

"Annabeth!" Her half-brother shouted. "You've got to get back to the ship! Now! We're under attack! The Stolls came racing back to the ship, screaming their heads off, followed by a bunch of Romans! Led by that skinny blonde kid!"

Percy growled. "Octavian. He is really asking for a foot up his _podex_."

Annabeth sighed. "We'll be right there." Malcolm nodded. An arrow flew towards his head, and he ducked. The arrow broke the connection.

Percy grabbed his pen. "Let's go kick Octavian's butt."

**Random line break. Just kidding, I want it here. : )**

**_Okay, this is what type looks like bolded, italicized, and underlined. Just saying. Back to the story._**

Back at the ship, everything was in complete chaos.

Greeks were fighting desperately, trying not to die. Romans were fighting even harder, trying not to get on Octavian's bad side. Percy did a quick survey of the ranks, and cursed. They were mostly First Cohort soldiers. Figures, Octavian had the most time to manipulate them.

Travis and Connor were clinging to the mast of the ship, throwing stuff at the Romans and yelling, "We're sorry! We won't steal your stuff anymore! Don't kill us!"

The Hephaestus cabin was running around madly, trying to protect the ship from a group of archers with flaming arrows.

Leo turned pale. "They... they're not serious." And then, if this day hadn't been weird enough, he burst into flames himself and ran down the hill screaming, "No! Not my baby!"

Frank, Hazel, and Percy looked at each other. Piper rolled her eyes.

"Leo has fire powers," Jason said, as if that explained everything that had happened in the past five seconds.

Percy looked at Annabeth, who nodded and mouthed, _Tell you later._

Percy sighed. So far, this day had been one big _Tell you later. _Rage burned inside his chest. But hey, what did he expect? He clicked his pen, and Riptide sprang into full size. He charged down the hill.

No one really made a move to stop him. Through his fury haze, he caught glimpses of people looking at him, eyes wide, as he passed through them. Almost before he could think, he was pressing someone against the ship, sword point at their throat.

Octavian gulped. This apparently was not part of his plan, getting caught.

"What are you thinking?" Percy growled at him. "We have to work TOGETHER! You might not know what that word means, Octavian, but I do. Everyone else here does, I'm guessing. So either get on the bandwagon, or _get out._"

Octavian blinked. "In case you've forgotten, Jackson, you are not praetor anymore. Now that Jason has returned, you must forfeit the position. If you resist, I'm afraid I have the authority to have you arrested."

"What?" Percy blinked, not quite sure of what was going on. He looked around, the random angry energy spurt drained, and saw that everyone was still fighting. Well, this wasn't exactly the way he had pictured things going.

"Are you resisting, Son of Neptune? Or should I say, _Poseidon_?" Octavian spat his father's name out like a curse.

"Um... to what, exactly?"

"The repentance of your position." Octavian was purposely omitting something. Percy didn't know what, but he thought that he should, because he had heard it recently, and it might cost him his life. He took the logical alternative.

"You mean, get my sword of your neck? No," Percy said. "And it's Praetor Jackson to you."

Well, that was the wrong thing to say. Almost immediately, Octavian was grinning and yelling, "Guards!" Two burly First Cohorters had their arms wrapped around Percy's. One knocked his sword out of his hand. The other kicked his legs out from under him. They started dragging him around the boat.

"Hey!" Percy said indignantly. He glanced back at Octavian, who was grinning at him. He gave Percy a 'toodles' wave.

Percy struggled as his captors dragged him around the boat and out of sight of the battle. The last thing he saw was a flash of blonde and a fire blazing around the corners of the boat.

**Sorry, I know a boat doesn't really have corners. BTW, this is another line break.**

Percy was thrown into a dungeon, which was pretty cool, considering the fact that he didn't know Romans had dungeons.

He fell, sprawled on the cold stone floor, but was up again almost instantly. He flew at the guards again, but they slammed the door in his face, laughing, and went back outside to join the battle.

Percy cursed and kicked the wall. Great. Just great. Now Octavian was probably out there, manipulating everyone and causing general chaos. And Annabeth! Oh, gosh, his friends were probably freaking out. What had he gotten himself into?

He slumped down against the wall, all fight gone out of him. He closed his eyes in resignation. There was nothing he could do now. If he had been Annabeth, he probably would have come up with a plan by now... but he wasn't Annabeth...

He felt himself slip down into sleep.

**Yup, another line break. I have a lot of these in this chapter, don't I?**

_"Percy!"_

Percy jolted awake. Okay, he wasn't awake. Obviously, he was dreaming, because he was on Olympus, in the throne room, and Hera was standing in front of him.

"I'm surprised, Perseus Jackson. You really haven't figured it out yet?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Hera, I'm a demigod. And a stupid one at that. We don't pretend to know what you gods and your magical, mystical prophecies mean."

"Oh, water under the bridge, Perseus Jackson... er, excuse the pun." Hera waved her hand. "But even you should have realized it by now. You have instincts. You've survived thus far, haven't you? That requires some thinking."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Most of my not dying involves reckless decisions that I totally make up on the fly."

Hera glared at him. "I'm starting to wonder why she didn't turn around and kill you... oh, right, I told her not to."

"Oh," Percy said. "Thanks, I guess."

"Sit down, Perseus Jackson." Hera sat on her throne, growing to full height.

Percy looked around. He knew, from experience, that it was a bad idea to sit on a god's throne, even when they were your parent. He settled for the floor.

"That funny little Spanish Son of Hephaestus is right, Percy. You are the Mark of Athena. And you are probably wondering why, and how, and all of that."

"Yes."

"Well, that is not important."

Percy glared at her. "I've kind of got all the time in the world. I'm in prison."

"Oh, yes, you can thank me later." Hera smiled.

Percy stood up. "_You _got me stuck in jail?"

"Well, yes." Hera looked shocked, like she was surprised anyone would think anyone different. "I needed you here. You don't think you could get that mad in two seconds by yourself, do you? Or that any two people could overtake you so easily? Or that, with the curse, your senses would be that dull?"

"I don't even want to know," Percy said. "Continue with the whole Mark of Athena thing."

"Ah, yes. Remember, if you will, a certain meeting with Athena, at the end of the Second Titan War, when the goddess in question poisoned you."

"What? She never poisoned me."

"That's what you think. She erupted in flame, yes?"

Percy nodded, the fuzzy memory resurfacing. "Yeah. I smelled like a barbecue."

Hera looked pleased. "That was her giving you the Mark of Athena."

"What?"

"You don't believe me? Okay, here is an example from the old mythology, as the mortals call it; Athena and Arachne."

"The spider girl." A spider suddenly raced over Percy's hand. It stopped and bit him. "Ow!"

"Yes, the 'spider girl', as you so elegantly put it," Hera said disdainfully. "Anyway, do you think anyone would be foolish enough to challenge a goddess?"

"Yes... I mean, I've done it."

"Yes, but you're you," Hera said. "This was the age of fear for immortals. Long story short, Athena bewitched the poor girl. She was turned into a spider, the end. Same with you."

"I'm going to turn into a spider?"

"No!" Hera growled. "Do you want information or not? I can easily send you back. And I was going to tell you how to get out too..."

"No," Percy said. "Please continue."

"Well, Athena put the same curse on you. She was going to let it slowly poison you, killing you by your eighteenth birthday... but I convinced her to turn it into her blessing."

"So... the Mark of Athena can be a curse or a blessing? Sounds like invincibility all over again."

"It's rather like it. Now, Athena has basically given you all powers of children of Athena, as well as some special gifts to be used only in dire need. I couldn't convince her to give you more... oh, well, this will suffice for your needs."

"What special gifts?"

"You'll find out when the time comes." Percy still must have looked skeptic, because the goddess sighed. "You still don't believe me? Alright, fine. Remember how when you came to the Roman camp, you could understand Latin?"

"Yeah... so?"

"Jason can't speak Greek."

Percy's eyes widened as the truth dawned on him. "The Mark..."

"Yes, Perseus. The Mark of Athena gave you the knowledge. You should be able to speak both languages, Greek better than Latin, but still. It will be a valuable asset to your success later."

"So, I'm smarter now? Great!"

Hera shook her head. "I wouldn't say that, Perseus. Athena could easily chose to take away the blessing and turn it back into a curse. And I'm afraid that your death would come even more rapidly if that happened."

Percy gulped. "Nice to know."

"Now-" Hera jerked to the right. "Oh dear, they are calling you back. I'm out of time."

Percy felt himself being pulled away from the goddess.

"Oh, one more thing! When you get back to your jail cell, remember, you are Poseidon's son! The door will open, if you can just find your resources-"

The goddess was cut off as Percy sat bolt upright. What the heck had just happened? And what resources was he supposed to have?

Then he felt it. A small current. Water. It was small, but if he could make it a little larger...

Percy stood. He willed the water to come to him.

It was a lot more than he thought, but not enough... he concentrated hard, and another puddle was added to it, out of thin air.

He had pulled the water vapor from the air.

_Worry about new stuff later, _Percy thought. _Get out now._

He took a deep breath and blasted the water in front of him at the door.

It exploded off of its hinges and flew a good ten feet away.

Percy stepped out into the sunlight. He breathed in, enjoying the fresh air, and the cries from the forest... wait, what?

Percy turned towards where the battle had been a while before.

The woods were on fire.

**And, scene! Well, I sure do like cliffhangers, don't I? Since you guys are so awesome to keep reading this, please review and I promise I will go and read one of your stories and review it! But only if you review. And if you type, PERCY JACKSON HAS AWESOMENESS RUNNING THROUGH HIS VEINS, into your review, you shall get virtual cookies, because you believe it! And if you type the number of line breaks there were in this chapter, you shall get virtual milkshakes, because you actually read all the line breaks! And if you know when Pi day is, you shall get virtual pie! Remember, review for all these wonderful prizes! I'll see you guys later! Hearts and stuff!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hola, muy amigos! I had this chapter ready a couple of days ago, but then -POOF- my STUPID computer deleted it! So I had to start all over! Hope you like it, but I actually like this version better than my original! To my reviewers, the only ones who actually believed that PERCY JACKSON HAS AWESOMENESS RUNNING THROUGH HIS VEINS! were sam and mtwon, two anonymous reviewers. The only ones who knew when Pi day was were cherrybubble and mtwon (btw, it's Wednesday... see if you can figure out why). And the only one who counted the number of line breaks was mtwon (there were 3)! So, either you guys are NOT reading my A/Ns (I put a lot of time into these, you know... jk) or you don't like virtual prizes. I'll review everyone's stories soon. If I miss you, I'm sorry, please tell me. Anyway, enough of my rambling, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: If I was a millionaire, I could buy the rights of PJO off Rick Riordan. Unfortunately, I only have about 30 dollars right now.**

VIII

Hazel

Hazel had never really been comfortable with fire.

Back in New Orleans, fire had either been good or bad. Fire cooking food=good. Fire burning your house down=bad. And of course, there were the occasional bonfires on Mardi Gras, but Hazel had never been.

In the Underworld, the only fire was either in Pluto's palace or burning people up in Tartarus. You didn't want to get near to either of them.

And now, Hazel was closer to fire than she had ever been in her life. And she was terrified, not just for herself.

Her hand closed around a stick of wood, wrapped in cloth, in her pocket. Frank's life. If it ignited, it was Bye-Bye Frank.

Hazel pushed that thought out of her mind and turned to asses the situation.

Most of the soldiers were running and screaming in terror. She could hear people yelling farther up the hill, and running around, trying to find water to put out the fire. Unfortunately, the nearest water was about a mile away, and Romans aren't that coordinated when trying to sprint in heavy armor while panicking.

Frank's hand slipped into hers. She looked up at him. He was white as a sheet, and trembling a little inside her grasp. She squeezed his hand comfortingly and handed him his wood.

"Get out of here, Frank," Hazel said. "Fly away or something. I'll be okay."

Frank nodded, then looked around to see if anyone was watching them. He gave Hazel a quick kiss, then turned into some kind of bird and flew up, the wood clutched in his talons.

Hazel turned and started running out of the woods, but the fire was wrapping around. In the haze of heat, she saw Jason and Piper desperately trying to get Leo to come with them. He was dashing back and forth, yelling, and running in and out of the flames, trying to save his ship. Finally Jason grabbed him and took to the sky. Leo was yanked away, but safety was far gone. The fire had enclosed him, Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel. Jason tried to fly up, but the fire had turned into a dome, which was kind of unnatural. Jason came back to the ground.

Annabeth was dashing around the ship, trying not to get to close to the fire. She saw Hazel, and ran up to her.

"Have you seen Percy?" she asked, out of breath. The smoke was making it harder to breathe. "I can't find him. He's fire resistant, but even he can't last that long."

"I haven't." Hazel whipped around, searching for the Son of Poseidon, but he was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a face emerged in the flames. A sleeping woman. Gaea

_Ah, my servant has done well, encasing you in flames. _Gaea crooned. _Do not worry, demigods, you will not be harmed. I shall take you beneath the earth, if you so wish. You can serve me. Your lives will not be spared if you stay here. Choose wisely._

_Not a chance, _thought Hazel. She was about to say so, but someone else did.

"No way, Gaea," Leo looked furious. "You killed my mom, you killed my dragon, and you're burning my ship. There is no. Way. In. TARTARUS that I'm going to lift a finger for you."

Hazel could see everyone else nodding in agreement.

_FOOLISH DEMIGODS! _Gaea roared in their minds. _YOU SHALL BURN!_

And then she was gone. The fire swept towards them. Hazel could feel the flames licking her face. She closed her eyes, and waited to die. Again.

Before she could, though, she felt icy water wash over her. She was swept off her feet. Hazel could feel herself flying for a moment, and then she was set down gently on the grass, coughing. Frank rushed over to her, in human form again.

"Oh, gods, don't DO that," He gasped. "You said you'd get out!"

"I did, didn't I?" Hazel asked him. "I'm safe."

"But you wouldn't be, if not for-" Frank was cut off by someone yelling in Latin.

**A/N All other languages shall be in italics, just letting you know.**

_What are you guys thinking? You need to be helping one another, not frying them! You all saw Gaea! You know what she's planning! So rise up to the challenge, or I will personally send you shooting down to Tartarus, where you belong! That means you, Octavian! _

Percy Jackson was striding down the hill. He looked madder than Hazel had ever seen him. He was radiating fury and power and the demigods scrambled back, as not to get on the receiving end of his anger.

He got down to the other six.

"Είστε παιδιά εντάξει; Ορκίζομαι, είμαι πρόκειται να σκοτώσει τον Οκταβιανό αν είναι το τελευταίο πράγμα που έχω να κάνω ... ήταν ότι η Γη; Συγγνώμη που δεν ήμουν εδώ, αλλά η Ήρα είχε με ρίξει σε ένα μπουντρούμι ... κυριολεκτικά," Percy said, picking up his friends and dusting them off. Hazel had no idea what he was saying, and, looking at the Romans confused faces (including Frank and surprisingly, Jason), she had a feeling they didn't either.

Luckily, there was no casualties or injuries to any of the demigods caught in the fire, although Leo was pretty much freaking out, trying to get onto his ship and check the damage. Percy seemed to notice the problem and walked over. He placed a hand on the ship and winced, then cocked his head.

"You know, Leo, the hull is pretty blackened and anything cloth that was up there is completely incinerated, but all in all, she looks pretty good. There wasn't anyone in there, right?" Percy frowned and concentrated harder, trying to detect any life inside of the ship.

"Dude," Leo said. "You can tell all of that just by touching the ship?" He threw his arms around Percy's shoulders. "Where've you been for the past eight months?"

"Sleeping in a ruined house, mostly," Percy laughed. "How long do you think it'll take to replace all that stuff?"

"Ropes and sails?" Leo scoffed. "Maybe three hours. If we want to go through a whole new hull, though..." He though for a moment, calculating in his head. "Three days at the least. Can you possibly do some awesome water power thing?"

Percy shook his head. "As far as I know, I can't magically repair boats, no matter how much I wished I could. Sorry. But I can help you rebuild, and so can Tyson. Between us, your siblings, the Athena cabin, and anyone else who wants to help, we could have this show on the road sooner than you think!" Percy looked absolutely delighted with the idea of doing nothing but working on a boat until it was time to leave, an idea that made Hazel queasy just thinking about it.

Jason laughed. "Great, Piper and I will be over here. Percy can replace the both of us."

"Don't have too much fun, guys!" A voice called out from the other demigods waiting at the top of the hill. Hazel suspected it came from one of those troublesome twins, the ones with the ironic name.

The fire was back in Leo's eyes now. "Let's get cracking then, my peeps!" He started directing people around, dashing everywhere like a hummingbird hyped up on caffeine and sugar.

The Romans, most of whom had the decency to look sheepish, were either slouching away or coming down the hill to help. Percy watched them, nodding.

"Good, good!" Leo shouted. "Right this way, get your full healthy dose of ship work! Took us over seven months to build this baby, lets get cracking, friends and such!"

The only one who wasn't moving was Octavian. Percy glared at him, opened his mouth and was going to say something, but thought better of it. He turned and began discussing something with Annabeth.

Jason, however, scowled at Octavian. "Are you going to come help or what?"

"Why?" Octavian said. "It's not my fault Fire Boy went all kamikaze and burst into flames and destroyed his precious ship and whatnot. I couldn't care less, frankly. Do it yourself." He flipped his toga over his shoulder and stalked off.

"Right, like it was all Leo's fault," Jason growled. He and Piper walked off together, hand in hand.

Hazel was unsure of what to do. Percy and Annabeth were still standing to the side and Hazel didn't feel right leaving the others with all the work. Her thoughts, though, were interrupted by Leo.

"Hey, Squid Spawn!" He shouted down to Percy. "Coming?"

Percy glared back at him, half amused, half annoyed. "Squid Spawn?"

"Oh, yeah," Leo said. "You haven't heard all the nicknames I've come up with for you: Dolphin Boy, Anemone Head, Prince of the Sea, Ship Doctor... I came up with that just now, actually... the Shark Master, the Loose Cannon..." Leo's voice trailed off as he disappeared back into the boat.

Percy groaned and started for the boat. He glanced back at Frank and Hazel and waved them off, winking.

Frank took Hazel's hand. "They're not helping... and you don't like ships, so..." Hazel held her breath, her heart beating double-time in her chest. _My first date! Here I come! _"Want to go spar?"

Well, that was a disappointment. Hazel ignored the feelings bubbling in her stomach and nodded.

They started up the hill. The sun was starting to sink in the sky, casting golden beams across the camp. Frank stopped and took a deep breath.

"Race you."

He took off, sprinting down the hill. Hazel shouted and ran after him. She tackled him around the waist and they both tumbled to a stop in the grass, but before Hazel could stop laughing, Frank had pried her off of him and was doing a weird dance/run thing across the grass, taunting her to catch him. Hazel was laughing so hard now that she could barely stand, but she dutifully tried to catch him, hair streaming behind her, their laughter lost in the wind...

They never made it to the arena.

******End of chapter! BTW, I know the Stolls are NOT twins, but they look so much alike Hazel thinks they are. And what Percy said in Greek was, "Are you guys okay? I swear, I'm going to KILL Octavian if it's the last thing I do. Sorry I wasn't here, Hera had me tied up... literally." Oh! Shout out to my buddy, Hugs6, for advertising! Go read the Leo Valdez Show! It's really good, and instead of reviewing her storied, she asked if I could advertise. So, new prizes! If you review, you can either have: a) me review one of your stories b) a shout out for anything c) advertising d) a favorite or e) virtual stuff of your choice! Oh, and f) a chapter dedicated to you. Those are your choices! And, if you answer my quiz question of the update (idea by HarunoKasumi) you can have another of those choices! But you must review! Okay, boring author's note over.**

**Quiz Question of the Update (these are all PJO/HoO related): Who is the first monster Percy ever fights?**

**Adios, Amigos! All flames belong to Leo!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yola, friends! Thanks for all the reviews, but I have to say, none of you claimed your prizes. What's up? Do you just not like the prizes, do you like me so much the you just review (I like to think so) or do you just not read these author's notes? I don't know, but if you want your prizes, go look at the previous chapter. It'll give you the list.**

**Quiz Question Answer: Mrs. Dodds. A lot of you said the Minotaur at first, but then changed your answer. So, congrats to whoever got it! You know who you are, I reply to all signed reviews...**

**I promise, I'll update a lot faster this time. I have the next chapter pretty much written out, so yeah! And I promise, it'll get much more action packed after this chapter and possibly the next! Enjoy!**

IX

Annabeth

Luke.

That's who that blonde, skinny, Octavian guy reminded Annabeth of. Luke.

Of course, it wasn't the good Luke, the one that had taken Annabeth in when she was little, and the one that she and Thalia had known like the back of their hands. No, this was the bad Luke type. The evil, possessed one, even if she didn't like to think of him that way. But she knew, deep down inside her, that that's what had happened.

She could tell Percy had a gut feeling too. He didn't seem like he knew exactly what it was that was bothering him, but he was uneasy whenever Octavian was around, or really mad, like he had been, whenever Luke had come up in a conversation.

But still, Annabeth knew he had cared. Whenever she talked about Luke, before and after, she could see a fraction of the hurt she was feeling in Percy's eyes. Luke had been his "friend" for a while. He had accepted him at camp. Of course, that was before he tried to kill Percy.

For the last weeks of summer, at camp, Annabeth hadn't slept very well. She'd wake up, screaming silently, from a horrible dream. Percy and Luke were always in it. Sometimes Luke died, and sometimes Percy did. Different ways: Pushing each other off a cliff, stabbing each other, something with fire. There was also one where Dora the Explorer showed up and dumbed everyone to death. Annabeth suspected that had come from the Stoll brothers random Dora movie marathon. She didn't know why they had done that, but most people had left them alone for about two days, because they had gotten the theme song stuck in their heads and were singing it non-stop, very off-key.

But back to the dreams. Whenever she had woken up, shouting in silent terror, she'd take her invisibility Yankees cap, and take a walk around camp. Somehow, she'd always end up at the Hermes cabin, and then her feet would take her to Percy's.

Then she could hear him, calling out in his sleep, tossing and turning. Her name came up numerous times, along with Thalia, Grover, Luke, and anyone else who had died in the Second Titan War. He was having nightmares too, possibly worse than Annabeth's, because if she knew Percy as well as she thought she did, he couldn't wake up from his nighttime prison even if he wanted to.

Somehow, that comforted her. Someone else was out there, having the same stress and worries that she did. Annabeth could always go back to bed after walking by Percy's cabin.

But that was the past. Now, she had to push all thoughts of Luke from her mind and focus on the task at hand. And it wasn't an easy one.

Annabeth was about ready to kill anyone who got in her way. She, her siblings, the Hephaestus cabin and anyone who was willing to help, back at Camp Half-Blood, had spent almost eight months building this ship. And now, some idiots had ruined half of their work in about eight minutes.

So, to say Annabeth was a little bit annoyed would be the understatement of the year.

She had to admit that the Romans were pretty good builders, though. In a matter of seconds, they had taken off the most damaged parts of the hull and were rebuilding as fast as you could blink. Already, they were halfway done, which was amazing.

"You should see the camp," Percy told her. "It was rubble a few hours ago. Everything is designed to be easy to rebuild."

Annabeth just nodded, shocked. All she would have to do was make safety checks.

Leo staggered up to them, buried under new sails and ropes. He dumped them on the deck and frowned.

"This is going to take forever to redo," he scowled. **(A/N Ten thousand words!)** "Do you know how long it took me to get the rigging perfect?"

"Don't worry," Percy said. "Leave it to me."

Leo hit the deck as the bundle of canvas and rope flew over his head and started to organize itself. Percy kept his eyes on it, controlling it with his mind. Leo's jaw dropped.

"You... I mean... whoa, that is so cool!" Leo exclaimed. He started running around the deck, checking everything. Most everyone got out of his way, but the few who didn't were flung off the ship. Percy shot a rope down and carried them back up.

"That guy is weird," Reyna said, shaking her head. She was carrying an armload of wood. Annabeth wasn't sure what to make of her yet, but she had to agree with her on this matter.

The two girls stood and watched, like most everyone else was doing. Percy had the ship almost done. Unlike everyone else, though, Annabeth was watching Percy.

He had definitely grown taller, a couple of inches over the last months. His raven-colored hair was longer, reaching into his eyes. He was pretty tan, giving him the look of some sort of surfer. Right then, he was standing in the middle of the deck, eyes closed, while materials rushed around, blowing his hair back.

Annabeth noticed he had dark circles under his eyes. Lack of sleep, from his quest, no doubt. But there was something else too...

Annabeth gasped. It wasn't a large sign, but Percy had tell-tale bruises scattered around his arms and legs. That wasn't possible... he had the Curse...

Percy opened his eyes and caught her staring. He gave her his smile, the one she had missed so much, that could make her worries fly away, and winked, as if to say, _Don't worry. We'll talk later._

Annabeth sure hoped later would come soon.

**Line break! Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who has read or reviewed or whatever! Ten thousand words, baby! Okay, I'll get back to the story now...**

Later did come, much sooner than Annabeth expected.

She had been sitting down, back against the side of the ship, trying to concentrate on battle plans and listening to the haze of people working above. It was basically just Leo, his cabin mates, and Percy up there now. The ship was almost ready and Annabeth felt optimistic about the whole thing. They could leave tomorrow.

_Maybe we can make a quick detour to Camp Half-Blood. Rachel wasn't able to make it... or Chiron... actually, there's a lot of campers back there who haven't seen Percy yet... and he can see his mother and Paul..._

Annabeth was broken out of her thoughts by someone jumping down beside her.

"Hey, Wise Girl."

"Seaweed Brain."

He lay back in the grass. "Gods, you don't know how much I've missed that."

"What? The nickname or me?"

"Both," Percy rolled onto his side so he was facing her. "So, whatcha want to do this evening? Leo's on the warpath up there. Apparently, the ships not done until he checks it over five million times. He won't let anyone help him and he's practically kicking his siblings off of that thing. I thought I'd get away while I could."

Annabeth laughed. "Oh, I don't know what I want to do. Don't you have praetor duties or something?"

"No," Percy said. "Jason's back, Octavian's pretty much kicked me out of the role, and I didn't do much except think violent thoughts against Octavian while I was praetor."

"Oh." Annabeth suddenly turned serious. "Percy... I need to ask you something."

"Oh, no," he said, standing up. "I'm not sure I want to hear this."

"No, it's fine!" she exclaimed, standing up too. "I'm just... worried about you."

"I don't need another, 'Are you okay with being the subject of a prophecy?' therapy session again, Annabeth. I've pretty much accepted the fact that I'm always going to be the subject of some stupid god's mystic mumbo-gumbo because they need me to save their butts! I'm never going to be completely okay with it, but that's the story of my life."

"Percy, it's nothing like that..." Annabeth trailed off helplessly.

Percy studied her face. "What, then?"

She looked around. "Not here. I'm not sure what you know about this, and if you told anyone else."

"Okay," Percy said. "Come with me."

**Line Break! Ooo, Percy's taking Annabeth to some secret romantic spot! What will happen? Actually, I know! And I'm not telling! MWA HA HA HA... okay, I'll let you get back to the story now...**

Percy led Annabeth to the river.

"This is the Little Tiber," he told her. "As far as I know, pretty much no one comes here, unless they're coming in the entrance." He turned and faced her. "What's up?"

"Percy..." Annabeth bit her lip. "I don't exactly know how to say this... do you know anything about the Achilles Curse?"

Percy scratched his head. "Hera did say something about that... I'm not really sure, though. Something to do with... Nico? And a river?"

Annabeth nodded. "Long story short, you went and bathed in the River Styx in the Underworld just before you fought Kronos. Nico somehow convinced you, and you became invincible, except for one spot on your body."

Percy nodded. "That seems familiar... funny, I don't think I completely remember all of that." He looked at her. "Where is the spot?"

"Right here." Annabeth placed her fingertips on the small of his back. Percy trembled underneath her touch.

"Wow. Some sort of... current thing just went through me. Was that it?"

Annabeth nodded. "But, Percy... I don't think you have it anymore."

"Why not?"

"Look at you." Annabeth ran her hand along his arm. "You're battered and bruised. If you still had the curse, you wouldn't be touched."

"Oh..." Suddenly, Percy facepalmed. "I remember now! Hera said that when I went through the Little Tiber, the curse was washed away. Sorry," he added, when he saw her face.

"It's fine. I just don't want you to forget and get hurt."

"Hey," he said, smiling at her. "If I do, you'll be there to cure me, and then try to kill me again for worrying you."

Annabeth laughed. "Oh, Seaweed Brain."

And then suddenly, she was crying. Again. Without knowing how she got there, she was wrapped in Percy's arms.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here now," he murmured into her hair. "I'm okay."

"Sorry," Annabeth sniffled. "I'm good."

"He held her back, and smiled. "I missed you, Annabeth.

"I missed you too."

Her face was closer to Percy's then it had been in months. She could smell the clean sea breeze that always seemed to be blowing through his hair. Annabeth closed her eyes. It wasn't underwater, but it would have to do...

Just as Percy's lips were an inch away from hers, a shrill voice rang out of the shadows.

"Perseus Jackson! You are under arrest!"

Percy jerked away. "Really? Again? What for this time? Living?"

"I wish, Jackson, I wish," the voice said. "Unfortunately, you are under the charges of betraying Rome and having the Mark of Athena."

******And cue dramatic music! Oh, am I evil, or what? I'm evil... MWA HA HA HA! Anyway, here is a sneak peek of next chapter:**

**'Leo shouted, "Come on! The creepy oracle woman is giving us a distraction! Let's take it!"**

**"Oracle woman?" Octavian said, while trying not to be killed by an Iris message.**

**"Creepy?" Rachel said, while trying to kill Octavian through the Iris message.**

**"Leo's right," Percy said. "Come on, guys! We're going to Greece!"'**

**And, scene! Okay, hopefully, you can get a little inkling on what's coming up next time! If not, I'll update soon(ish). Promise!**

**Quiz Question of the Update: In the _Titan's Curse, _what is the only figurine Nico doesn't have? What is the game called?**

**Okay, review! All flames belong to Leo, and whatnot! Yours in Cheesiness and all that! PEACE OUT!**

**P.S. Go read The Leo Valdez Show! by Hugs6. She is my buddy and deserves reviewers.**

**P.P.S. I'm on the final Harry Potter book, so no spoilers!**

**P.P.P.S. Four days till Hunger Games! Who's gonna go to opening night?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, guys! Okay, I know you think you were getting a long epic chapter, so sorry. This is a short kind of filler chapter, to set the next chapter up... I do this alot.**

**To clear things up a little: Yes, in the last chapter, Percy was supposed to have all of his memories back. But I wanted the whole, life-and-death curse thing to be something special for Annabeth and Percy, so I purposefully made that memory a little fuzzy until she showed up... cue the aw, Percabeth.**

**Quiz Question Answer: The figurine was Hades and the game was Mythomagic. A lot more people got it right this time! Good job!**

**And so, filler chapter No. 1 without further ado!**

X

Octavian **(Oho! You didn't expect THAT, did you?)**

_Finally, _everything was going Octavian's way.

He had almost burned the Roman ship (too bad that didn't end up too well. He'd work on it later), stopping the seven from leaving. He had gotten Percy thrown in jail (which didn't work out either. Huh, surprising). And now he had caught that sneaky wanna-be Roman in betraying the camp. Not only was he making out with that Greek daughter of Athena, he also had the Mark! Oh, this was too good.

Percy was allowing himself to be led back to the camp, not looking very pleased. Octavian had the feeling that he would've tried to resist, if he wasn't under that whole oath thing.

Which was one more thing Octavian had to take care of. If he wanted to get Jackson to Gaea **(Yes, he is working for Gaea! Oh, big surprise... NOT)**, he'd have to come up with some sort of staged murder... Jason perhaps... or Reyna. With her out of the way and the others on their quest that was doomed to fail, Octavian could just slip right in. Perfect!

Octavian was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost led Percy past the arena, where he had gathered most of the Romans, so they could see his moment of triumph. The Annabeth girl was trailing behind. Octavian didn't like the looks she had given him, but he was pretty sure she was unarmed. He had confiscated Jackson's sword, of course. Celestial bronze... it gave him chills, and not the good kind. Deadly, very deadly... especially to Romans... why, one touch from that thing...

It might even be as deadly as Imperial Gold was to Greeks.

Octavian managed to get himself turned around and back on track. As they marched towards the arena, towards Octavian's glory, he thought, _Rome, get ready for greatness._

**And, there you have it folks! I promise to get the long epic chapter up tomorrow or Saturday. Not today, because I have a big concert for chorus this evening! Wish me luck, I've got two solos, one group of five ensemble, and two groups of about 15 ensembles, plus concert music if our teacher says so... so yeah!**

**Quiz Question of the Update: Okay, a Son of Neptune one. What is Octavian's official title? And not, "creepy dude who kills stuffed animals."**

**Peace love and cheese, **

**Me.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Aloha, mes amis! Yes, that was Hawaiian and French. Would that be Hawaiench? Of Frewaiin? I don't know... okay that was random...**

**Here is the extra long chapter I promised! Octavian gets OWNED! MWA HA HA HA! Okay, I don't know if it's your exact definition of owned, but oh well.**

**Answer to the Quiz Question: Augur of Camp Jupiter. If you just said Augur, that's fine too. Special recognition to Bradie Daughter of Hebe for also saying that he was the Centurion of the First Cohort.**

**Enjoy the awesomeness!**

XI

Frank

Frank was trying to stifle a yawn behind his fingertips.

And failing miserably.

He and Hazel had spent a good part of the afternoon chasing each other, playing tag, and generally running around the camp like a couple of little kids.

They had ended up on the hill, near the border, over looking the city. Frank tripped over his own feet and tumbled onto the ground, near Terminus' statue. Hazel collapsed beside him, laughing, her hair splayed out around her face.

They had lay there, looking up at the sky and down into the valley, talking, the impeding danger that had been stressing them out for the last week or so seeming as far away as it had been before Percy had shown up, carrying Juno.

Frank hadn't been this happy since his mom died.

Anyway, all of that had been exhausting, both physically and emotionally. Frank was trying hard not to nod off as he sat there in the arena. Hazel had given up long ago and was now dozing on Frank's shoulder.

To keep himself awake, Frank gazed around the arena.

It was modeled after the Roman Coliseum, a giant oval shaped building with no roof. Except for the fact that the arena could turn into a basketball court, or a hockey rink, or a baseball field, and that it was lined with plush movie-theater like seats, it was almost exactly like the real thing.

He could see Dakota tipping around the stands, trying to find a seat, gulping Kool-Aid like it would be his last. Dakota spotted him and hurried over.

"Frank, maybe you should leave," Dakota said. "I mean, this isn't going to be good... you know... I'm thinking of going myself."

"Why?" Frank asked him. "This is a mandatory event, right?"

"Well, yeah..." Dakota said, shuffling his feet and taking another long drink. "But, I mean, you know him best and... well..." He studied Frank's face. "You seriously don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

Frank shook his head. "No clue."

Dakota's eyes widened. He opened his eyes as if to say something, but another centurion called out to him. He smiled at them and turned back to Frank.

"Look," he said. "Just wait for a distraction, and get out while you can." He dashed off before Frank could ask exactly what he meant.

Frank shook his head. Dakota was a little crazy sometimes.

He saw Jason and Piper come in, laughing their heads off. Leo wasn't far behind, covered in oil and machine grease. How anyone could get that dirty in the space of a few hours, Frank wasn't sure. The trio came over to where Frank and Hazel were sitting.

"Hey, guys," Leo said. "The ship's done again! But if that creepy stuffed-animal murdering dude tries to hurt my ship again, I swear I will go ballistic."

"I'm sure you will, Leo, I'm sure you will," Jason said, laughing. Piper whispered something in his ear and they both cracked up.

"Hey, guys, I wanna know what that secret is!" Leo whined. "Without me, you wouldn't have had any tacos on your trip!"

Piper rolled her eyes, but muttered the same thing to Leo.

Leo looked confused. "That doesn't even make sense!"

Frank could tell that they were going to start fighting in a moment, but before they could, the lights dimmed over the arena, everything going dark. Voices hushed as people found their seats.

A circle of light shone in the center of the arena. Octavian stepped into it.

"Romans! We gather you here tonight to witness the execution of a criminal, who has, unfortunately, seeped into our midst, bringing forth our worst enemies! Tonight, we shall begin the end of that treacherous breed!" Octavian cried. Cheers rose up, though they were considerably polite.

"And what, you ask, is this polluting race? Why, the only one it could possibly be!" Octavian paused for dramatic effect. "The Greeks!"

Frank heard Piper gasp. Jason was on his feet, Leo beside him. Hazel stirred on Frank's shoulder.

"And the villain who saw it fit to bring them here? None other than your praetor, Percy Jackson!"

The crowd gasped as Percy was shoved into the circle of light with Octavian. He was ropes around his wrists, but other than that, no visible bonds. He looked bored, like this happened to him every day.

"Because I am a man of mercy, I will allow the Greeks one hour to remove themselves from New Rome. Unfortunately, Jackson will not be so lucky."

_Where's Reyna? _Frank thought, searching the crowd. He didn't see her anywhere.

Hazel raised her head groggily. "What's happening?"

"Nothing much," Frank told her. "Octavian's just trying to execute Percy. We're about to have a full-scale riot on our hands and the only hope we have of defeating Gaea has been given one hour to get their butts back to wherever they come from. Go back to sleep."

Hazel didn't. Which wasn't surprising, because news like that could wake someone in a jiffy. She drew her calvary sword.

"How much of a chance do we have of getting out of here in one piece?" Hazel asked. "Percy included."

"Um, about a hundred to one," Frank said. "And that's only if Dakota and the Fifth Cohort come through for us."

Most of the crowd was on its feet now, trying to see what was going on.

"Sit down!" Octavian bellowed. He brushed some invisible dirt off his clothes, then continued. "As I said before, I am a man of mercy. So Jackson may have a choice. He can be given a quick death at the edge of a sword, or he can choose to fight."

"Who?" Percy asked. "Can I defeat them quick, cause you kinda interrupted Annabeth and I. We were right in the middle of something."

Octavian laughed. "Oh, I'm afraid it won't be that easy. You'll be fighting me."

* * *

><p>Frank didn't know if that was supposed to be scary or not, but Percy didn't seem very worried. In fact, he grinned and bowed sarcastically to Octavian.<p>

"You? With one hand tied behind my back."

"Very well," Octavian said. He cut the ropes on Percy's wrists. "You've made your decision then?"

"I've got a sword. What do you think?" Percy drew Riptide.

"Prepare to die, Jackson."

"In your dreams."

Their swords clashed.

Frank had to admit, Octavian was a better sword fighter than you'd give him credit for. He blocked most of Percy's strikes and thrusted pretty good. In battle, he probably would've been scary to a lot of monsters.

But then there was Percy. He had been trained with Greek techniques, but had picked up some Roman stuff in the little time he'd been at Camp Jupiter. Every time Octavian seemed to find a pattern in his fighting, Percy would change his style.

The two blocked and rolled and slashed and stabbed, grinning at each other like this was the most fun they had had all day.

Finally, Percy hooked his sword under Octavian's and twisted his arm. Octavian's sword flew into the air and embedded itself in the dirt behind them. Percy pointed his sword tip at Octavian's throat. The crowd went wild.

Octavian looked like he had swallowed something bitter. Obviously, this wasn't what he had in mind.

Percy lowered his sword and stood grinning at the roaring crowd. Octavian took the opening. He leapt forward and grabbed Percy's right arm, yanking back the sleeve of his T-shirt, exposing his upper arm.

"See? See? Do you see that? He has the Mark! The Mark of Athena!"

The crowd gasped, most people rising to get a better view. Frank twisted to see what was the big deal.

There was some sort of tattoo burned on Percy's right arm, like his SPQR one. An owl, sitting on a skull. Kind of creepy.

Percy stared at it in shock. "But... how?"

Octavian happily ignored him. "You all know what comes of this! Danger! We must get rid of the Poisoned One, before he kills us all!"

_Poisoned One? _Frank didn't have time to puzzle out what he meant, because he was too focused on trying to get the people around him to calm down.

Luckily or unluckily, Octavian started to explain. "The Mark of Athena, for those of you that don't know, is always a sign of great peril. The one's who bear it are known as the Poisoned One, and must be dealt with! Let's see, what happened last time...? Oh, yes. The Bubonic Plague. Almost wiped out half of the population of Europe in the late 1600's century... and that's just for starters. Then there's earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, volcanoes... some of the most deadly disasters the world has seen. And they all have something in common. One, the fact that they were caused by a Poisoned One, and Two." Octavian grinned evilly. "They were all caused by a child of Poseidon."

* * *

><p>Frank's head had started to spin. What the heck was going on?<p>

Most people in the stands were freaking out, trying to get out of the arena before Percy flipped out and started flooding everything, like that would happen. Percy was still staring in shock at his arm, which hadn't changed in the past five seconds, but Frank didn't blame him.

Octavian still had Percy in his grip and was shouting random things, generally causing mass chaos. "No need to worry! We'll just execute him and everything will be fine. Of course, we'll need to check his friends, because who knows? They could have been given a half-Mark. That marks some of the more minor natural disasters, such as, that flooding of camp a few decades ago..."

Frank felt chills go up his spine. That would've been his great-grandfather, or whatever. He felt an urge to check his arm and see if there was a creepy owl staring back at him. He looked at Octavian, only to see him staring back at him. Frank quickly adverted his eyes. _Octavian knows._

Suddenly, Reyna was standing beside Percy.

"Let him go, Octavian."

"But, Praetor," Octavian said, "He is Poisoned! He is a danger to us all!"

"I said, let him go. If you're really this worried about foreboding danger, give us a prophecy and prove he is a threat."

"As you wish, _Praetor,_" he said. With a flourish, Octavian yanked a knife and a stuffed animal, a dolphin, from the folds of his robes. He slashed the toy and stuffing fell out into a heap. Octavian studied it for a moment, then raised his arms.

"SILENCE!" He yelled. "The gods have given us a prophecy. Unfortunately, not a very good one..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Ah, well, I tried."

"What does it say?" Jason shouted down at him.

Octavian cleared his throat. "_A Son of Neptune shall bear the Mark/On his quest, do not let him embark/If you do, you shall pay/The Mark of Athena will wipe out the bay._"

A lot of people gasped. Some screamed. The Fifth hefted their weapons, but they looked nervous.

Frank drew his sword. He saw Hazel had hers out. Jason had a gladius that he had pulled out of nowhere, Piper had a dagger, and Leo had... himself. If it came to fighting, they weren't going to be much help.

Octavian placed his dagger on the side of Percy's neck.

"Good-bye, Son of Poseidon," Frank could see him hiss. Frank, Leo, Jason, Piper, and Hazel started running down the bleachers. But Frank could see that they wouldn't make it in time.

Just as Octavian was about to slide the knife across Percy's throat, a blinding flash of light exploded in the arena.

Frank was thrown off of his feet. He landed on his back, his head hitting the concrete steps. He groaned, his vision going fuzzy.

"Frank, are you okay?" He could hear Hazel's voice, but it sounded far away. Frank shook his head and struggled to his feet.

Most of the people had been thrown back at least two feet when the arena went nuclear. Octavian had been split from Percy and flung back into the wall. He was slumped on the ground, unconscious. One problem solved.

Jason was helping Piper to her feet. Leo was staggering around, bumping into chairs and muttering something about a goddess, bombs, wolves, and hot ice princesses. Frank had no clue what that meant, and didn't think he wanted to know.

Down in the arena, Percy was lying at the feet of a red haired girl. She was wearing jeans that were full of holes and a t-shirt. A bunch of paintbrushes were hanging out of her back pockets. She looked around and shook her head quickly.

"Wow, when Apollo said that was going to be sun-tastic, I didn't think he meant literally," the girl said.

"Rachel?" Percy asked, staring at her.

She grinned down at him. "Hey, Percy! Long time, no see!" She grabbed his hand and yanked him back to his feet, then wrapped him into a hug. Percy looked startled for a moment, then hugged her back.

"Sorry about the Supernova Travel," Rachel said. "Apollo said it would come in with a bang."

"Supernova Travel?" Percy looked confused, like that was one memory he hadn't gotten back.

"Oh, it's something new of Apollo's. You basically travel at the speed of a supernova in a ball of light-in other words, really fast. He's trying to get the gods to try it, but they don't want to. Now I know why." She laughed.

"It's good to see you, Rach. I don't think you just came here to chat, though," Percy said.

"Oh, yeah," Rachel said. She looked around for a moment. "Where's- oh."

She marched over to Octavian, who was blinking dazedly, and yanked him up by his toga. "You!"

"Who are you?" Octavian asked.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Rachel said.

"What do you want?"

"I want to strip you of your title of augur for lying to the people of Rome and falsely impersonating a seer of Apollo."

Octavian looked shocked, probably for the first time since the war games. "Wh-what? I am a true augur! I have the gift of sight!"

"Oh, please," Rachel said. "You have about as much sight for prophecies as Percy."

"Hey!" Percy said.

"No offense," Rachel told him. She turned back to Octavian. "I'd get out of here if I were you, before Apollo changes his mind and decides to blow you up."

Octavian ripped himself from her grasp. "Make me."

"Okay," Rachel agreed. She whipped her paintbrushes from her pockets. "Everyone who votes we kick this insert-swear-word-of-your-choice-here out of Rome, say aye!"

The stands roared.

The Fifth Cohort melted into the First, fighting like it was their last. The Fourth and Second joined them. The Third Cohort went down to Rachel's side.

In moments, Octavian was screaming and running around the arena with a cohort, led by a girl, hot on his heels.

Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and Leo stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do. Then Percy appeared at their side.

"Hi," he said.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked him.

"Where's Annabeth?" Piper said.

"I'm fine, and Annabeth is on the ship. I told her to get it ready, we're taking off immediately."

"What about the rest of the Greek campers?" Jason questioned.

"Reyna said they're welcome to stay here until we get back. If they don't want to, I'm sure the Stolls can produce a bus or something and get them back to New York."

Leo snapped out of his stupor. "Hey, guys, the creepy oracle woman is giving us a head start! Let's go!"

"Oracle woman?" Octavian said, looking shocked for the second time in two minutes.

"Creepy?" Rachel said.

"Leo's right, guys," Percy said. "We're off to Greece!"

**And there you go, folks! Octavian cannot predict the future, Rachel can travel at the speed of light, and Leo's weird! Oh, wait, we already knew that. Ah, well, even Octavian could've told us that.**

**Quiz Question of the Update: Who is actually the god named Fred in _The Titan's Curse_? Why is he in disguise?**

**Going to the Hunger Games on Monday! I've heard it's awesome! NO SPOILERS!**

**PS. Go check out Hugs6 and my stories: Dragon Nascar and The Wacked-Out World of PJO Pairings! I wrote the first chapter to Dragon Nascar, and yeah! Review and submit OC's to the Wacked-Out World of PJO Pairings, cause I need them!**

**Au Revoir, amigos! (French and Spanish, Franish, or Spanch.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Yo peoples! I watched the Hunger Games and it was AWESOME! If you haven't seen it yet, go do it! Now!**

**This chapter is kind of shortish, but that is not really my fault. I HATE writing in Jason's POV, but I had to do it. I mean, I can't tell if he has a sense of humor or not and what his real feelings are. I think Rick Riordan needs to give him a personality. Right now, he's kind of like a wanna-be Percy smashed with Thalia with a little flicker of uniqueness. But not much. I mean, Piper is cool and funny, Leo is hilarious and AWESOME, Frank is sweet, Hazel is her own person and PERCY JACKSON HAS AWESOMENESS FLOWING THROUGH HIS VIENS! So there. But I needed to get him out of the way, so here is this filler chapter. Better one next time, with Percy/Jason conflict, promise.**

**Answer to last Quiz Question: The god 'Fred' was actually Apollo. He was in disguise because ancient laws and Zeus forbade him to mess with quests. But, in his words, "No one messes with my baby sister. No one."**

**Shout out from CreamyXcream14 saying "WHO CAN'T WAIT FOR THE REAL MARK OF ATHENA?" I can't! PM and tell her, because I said!**

XII

Jason

Jason was running for his life.

He had gotten back to Camp Jupiter not even five hours ago, and now he was being chased out of it. Great welcome home party.

Sure, he hadn't expected people to be all, "Jason! We missed you so much! Now that you're back, we can kick the Son of Poseidon out and make you emperor! Jason! We love you!"

Yeah, that was pretty far fetched. And sounded like something Leo would say. Which made the whole thing sound pretty ridiculous.

Jason smiled to himself. Piper looked at him strangely, as did Leo.

"What the heck are you smiling about, dude?" Leo asked. "If you hadn't noticed, we're kind of trying to get out of here! Not exactly a walk in the park."

"I'm not smiling now," Jason muttered, reminded of their current situation.

He looked ahead of him. Percy was dead-out sprinting to the ship, practically flying off the ground. Frank and Hazel were a few feet ahead of Jason, Piper, and Leo, their armor that Zeus-knows-why they were wearing slowing them down.

_Flying... _That gave Jason an idea. He grabbed Piper's hand and summoned the wind.

Piper shrieked as they started racing with the wind. She snatched Leo along with them, as they bumped along.

The passes Hazel and Frank in a matter of seconds. The two of them looked at Jason, Piper, and Leo speeding by and their mouths dropped open.

Leo was cursing almost as fast as they were going. His eyes were shut and, since he was nearest to the ground, he kept hitting rocks and generally almost falling on his face.

Just as they were about to overtake Percy, Jason faltered. The three of them tumbled to a stop in the grass, head over heels, rolling the last few feet to the ship.

Jason got up and helped Piper to her feet. She brushed grass off of herself.

"That was... thrilling," she said.

Leo popped back to standing. "Seriously, don't _ever _do that again, if you value your eyebrows."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Leo, you're one of the most resilient human beings I've ever met. You're fine."

Frank and Hazel had caught up, and Percy was halfway up the ship's hull now. He looked back down at them.

"Hurry up, slowpokes!"

The ship was starting to rise. Wind whipped their hair around their faces... well, not in Jason's case. His kind of ruffled, but Piper's was totally masking her face and Leo's was blowing straight back. Hazel's was tucked under her helmet and Frank's was too short, but Percy's was totally windblown, all in his face.

Jason flew up to the deck. The others started straggling up the rope as the ship ascended higher into the sky. They collapsed on deck, panting, except Jason and Percy.

"Who's... flying... the ship?" Leo asked between pants.

"Um... Annabeth, I think," Percy said. Leo paled and rushed to the control room, screaming, "My precious!"

"Okay..." Frank said.

Now that they were on deck, the wind wasn't as bad. Percy started controlling the ropes and sails, getting the ship ready to catch an updraft.

Suddenly, the ship lurched. They were all thrown off of their feet and onto the hard wooden deck.

"Ow," Percy said, sitting up. "What the heck was that?"

A cry rang out from the general direction of the control rooms. "WHY THE TACOS ARE YOU ON MY SHIP?"

"Um, why is Leo yelling at Annbeth?" Percy asked. "And why the tacos?"

"Leo is a little... overprotective," Jason said.

"Long story," Piper added.

"And the tacos?" Percy questioned.

"Longer story."

Jason was pretty sure Percy was going to ask more questions, along with Frank and Hazel, when a flash of blonde and... Leo... burst on deck.

Jason noticed two things.

Leo was on fire. AgainThe blonde wasn't Annabeth.

"Great," Percy groaned. "How the heck did _you _get on board?"

Octavian **(A/N How many of you saw that coming?) **sneered. "Dare isn't the only one who Apollo actually favored at one point or another. He... owes me a favor. I cashed in."

"Really?" Percy scoffed. "One favor, and you waste it trying-and failing, by the way- to capture us? And for a moment there I thought you were smart."

"Oh, I am smart, Jackson. Although, devious is more of the word. You have two goddesses riding their hopes on you right now. If I turn you over to Gaea..."

Leo slammed him up against the mast. "You little _vlacas. _You're in cahoots with the woman who killed my mom. I'm gonna whup you so bad, you'll be wishing you'd never set foot on this boat."

Octavian rammed his knee into Leo's stomach. He collapsed, gasping.

"Hm, tempting... but I don't think so," Octavian said. "Who's next?"

Percy looked at the others. "May I?"

Jason shrugged. "Go ahead."

Percy shot his hand up in the air. Jason was thinking the guy was crazy (who fights without a _sword?_) when a giant wave rose out of the ocean nearby.

Octavian looked stunned for a moment. Then the wave grabbed him. He chucked a spear at Percy's chest, but it missed. The wave tightened around Octavian's chest. He glared at the group of them. Then the wave swept him overboard.

They all rushed over to the side. Octavian was struggling in the wave, just a speck now. And then, suddenly, he was just gone. He never hit the water. Dust floated around in the wind.

"Gaea," Percy said.

"Why the heck was that little rat on board? He had a mob after him!" Leo said.

"Leo-" Jason tried to ask him something.

"I mean, come on! Is it too much to ask that he just leave us alone for once?"

"Leo-"

"Seriously! We have enough on our plate without his sarcastic sense of humor and his teddy bear murdering and his creepy prophecy-ness. 'Oh, I'm Octavian, let me kill your childhood toys and then predict your death! What fun!' Gimme a break!"

"LEO!"

"What?"

"Um, I hate to interrupt your mental Octavian beating," Jason said. "But who's flying the ship?"

Leo's eyes widened. "OH SNAP!" He dashed off.

"Well, glad our pilot is in some state of normal," Piper said.

"Normal for Leo," Jason added.

Percy still looked worried. "Where's Annabeth?"

Just then, Leo yelled, "Hey, guys! I found her! What the-ow!"

A few seconds later, Annabeth stomped up on deck, dragging Leo by the ear.

"Hey, hey, Annie, come on! I didn't mean to! Ow, seriously, stop!"

Annabeth dropped his ear.

"Thank you."

She slapped him.

"Hey!"

"That was for calling me Annie," Annabeth said. "And this-" she slapped him again. "-is for being a total idiot and leaving your ship's controls unattended."

"Well, they're unattended now, too, but that's not my fault," Leo said reproachfully.

"I put the ship on autopilot," Annabeth sighed.

"Oh," Leo said.

"Anyway, what happened with Octavian?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, nothing," Frank said. "Percy just blasted him off of the boat and Gaea randomly swept him off into thin air."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

The boat was well underway now. They were flying over the Pacific Ocean and Jason could just make out Camp Jupiter in the distance.

Percy tilted his head to the side. "We should probably alter coarse. Go east instead of west."

Leo went down, grumbling, to take care of it.

Frank and Hazel went off to explore the ship with Percy and Annabeth.

Piper went to her room. Jason wasn't why, but he suspected that she wasn't exactly sure how to act around him right now.

Jason was exactly sure how to react around her, either. He didn't know the full extent of his and Reyna's relationship and he didn't want to have to make a decision yet. Best to wait and see if he died in the next few days, and then think about that stuff.

He sighed, and turned to look back towards Camp Jupiter.

Home.

******Hm, I actually kind of liked that at the end. :P**

**Quiz Question of the Update: According to Percy in _The Last Olympian, _what are Rachel's only rules about music?**

**Peace, love, and cheese,**

**Me.**


	13. RANDOMNESS! And April Fool's

******HEY YOU GUYS!**

**I am back! With another chapter! And while this is technically a chapter, it is not a serious, legit, Mark of Athena chapter... so, for those of you who thought that it was...**

**APRIL FOOLS!**

**And like Octavian, you didn't see that coming, did you.**

**So, while this is technically NOT a chapter, it is a chapter. I will now give you a random chapter full of random junk... to make you laugh. APRIL FOOLS! Oh, wait, I said that already, didn't I?**

**Oh, BTW. Answer to last question: The rule was no two songs on Rachel's iPod could sound the same, and they all had to be weird. I'm done now. Here is your RANDOMNESS!**

****No One's POV

Once upon a time, Percy was living happily and awesomely at Camp Half-Blood... but not for long...

"SCREAM!"

At the time of the hideous, blood-curdling screech, Percy was in the canoe lake, happily conversing with nyaids. When he heard the shriek, though, he shot up and out of the lake, forgetting to automatically dry himself off.

He ran to the source of the scream. Annabeth was standing in the middle of her cabin, sobbing.

"Annabeth!" Percy shouted. "What's wrong!"

"NOOOOOOO!" Annabeth cried. "PERCY! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE?"

"What the heck?" Percy said. "I'm right here!"

Annabeth just stared at a picture of Percy and kept crying. "Percy, you were too young to die! I'm so sorry, Percy! You are dead! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Percy scratched his head. Then he looked down... and SCREAMED! For Percy was not among the living anymore! He was... DUNDUNDUN! A ghost! OH THE HORROR!

"TREACHERY!" Percy yelled. "OH, I AM SLAIN!"

Just then, the cascading waterfall of tears coming from Annabeth suddenly ceased. "Oh, well, Percy's dead," she said. "Now I can date Jason!"

"WHAT THE HECK?" Jason randomly appeared with Piper.

"ANNABETH! YOU ARE TRYING TO CHEAT WITH MY BOYFRIEND! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!"

"WELL, YOU THOUGHT WRONG, APHRODITE CHICK!" Annabeth screamed. She grabbed Jason and created a portal to take them over the rainbow where bluebirds fly.

Before they could though, Reyna fell from the sky.

"HEY!" she yelled. "Jason is MINE!"

Annabeth, Reyna and Piper each grabbed one of Jason's limbs and pulled in different directions. The tension was too much and Jason exploded in millions of little pieces.

"OOPS!" said Annabeth.

"HOW ARE WE GONNA DEFEAT GAEA NOW?" exclaimed Reyna.

"GREAT!" screamed Piper sarcastically. "NOW WE HAVE TO HAVE A FUNERAL FOR BOTH JASON AND PERCY!"

Percy, meanwhile, was sobbing over his ghostly form.

"I'm dead! I don't even remember how I died!"

Leo popped into the scene. "Well, Percy, it was pretty gory, and since this is a K rated fic, I can't tell you!"

"Please, Leo! Please tell me!" Percy begged. "I have watched Dora the Explorer! I am old enough to hear of this horror!"

"Okay, then!" Leo said happily. "Well-"

**WARNING: THE AUTHOR HAS BLOCKED OUT THIS SCENE BECAUSE IT WAS WAY TOO VIOLENT AND GRAPHIC AND YEAH, THIS IS A K RATED FIC, PEOPLE! GOSH!**

"And so you died, the end," Leo finished. He looked around the room. "Percy?"

Percy was hiding under the bed in the fatal position, rocking back and forth. Unfortunately, Dora had done little to prepare him for that horror.

Just then, the girls looked at Leo.

"LEO! WE LOVE YOU!" Annabeth screamed.

"I KNEW HIM FIRST! HE'S MINE!" Piper yelled.

"Whoa, girls, I just came to tell you that the funeral starts in five minutes," Leo said, backing up.

"GET HIM!"

And Leo was chased out of the cabin, screaming in Spanish, by a rabid bunch of girls who we all thought were too respectable to be like this. Apparently, we were wrong.

After about five minutes, Percy crawled out from under the bed. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to go to the arena and watch his funeral.

"-Percy and Jason were two of the greatest heroes of all time," Chiron was saying.

_What the heck? _thought Percy. _That little wanna-be a main-character of a best-selling series stole my funeral!_

_NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS! _a voice roared.

Percy turned. There, standing behind him, was a boy about sixteen, who look suspiciously like Percy... if Percy wore dresses and glasses and carried a stick.

"Who the heck are you?" Percy asked.

"I am the Boy Who Lived! The Chosen One! I... am HARRY POTTER!" the boy screamed.

"Okay... that is weird!"

"This entire chapter is weird, what did you expect?" Harry said.

"Well, why are you here?"

"I am here to warn you! We were given a prophecy that was not-and I can't believe I'm saying this-NOT about me! THE HORROR!" Harry Potter fainted, and then woke up again. "Here it is:

_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call._

_To storm or fire, the world must fall._

_And oath to keep with a final breath._

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."_

__"What the heck!" Percy screamed. "We already knew that!"

"Oh, but there's more!" Harry said.

"_A half-blood of the eldest gods_

_Shall reach sixteen against all odds._

_He shall win the war and get the girl_

_But then again, he must save the world._

_He will go missing and be replaced_

_And then he shall die by the one with the furry face._

_The half-blood must slay the trecherous one._

_And then this weird chapter shall be done."_

__"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Percy yelled.

"How should I know!" Harry retorted. "I told you! This prophecy is not about me! And Dumbledore's dead!"

"Well, thanks for nothing!" Percy said.

"Oi, it's not done yet!" Harry started reciting again.

"_Your mentor, the one you look up too the most._

_This morning, he shall eat beans on toast._

_And then, beware, for his bowels will tear camp apart._

_He will destroy all with his powerful farts._"

"You annoy me!" screamed Percy. "Shut up!" And he cut Harry Potter clean in two.

"No!" Harry screamed. "I just got killed by Voldemort! I thought I was invincible now!"

"Yeah, well, too bad for you!" Percy yelled. "I'm the only one who can become invincible!"

"Avada-" Harry started to say, but then he died.

Percy turned back to his funeral.

"-and so, with sad souls and humble hearts, we lay to rest two of the greatest heroes of all time," Chiron said as he gently lit Percy and Jason's shrouds. He turned back to the crowd. "And as the smoke rises too the sky... LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

Party Rock Anthem blared out and all of the campers started to dance. Percy just stood there.

Suddenly, a black haired teenager appeared from the shadows. Nico Di Angelo.

Percy screamed like a girl and fell over.

"Hello, Percy," Nico said.

"What the heck, Nico!" Percy yelled. "You're supposed to be captured by Gaea!"

"I can shadow travel. Duh," Nico said. "I am here to help you understand the prophecy."

"You mean the one that that weird British kid gave me?"

"Yes. I will now take you back through your life and show you who the evil one is."

Suddenly, they were traveling down a dark tunnel. And Percy saw random scenes from his life... but they weren't what he thought they were...

_Grover getting dressed up like Mrs. Dodds..._

_Grover blowing up their ship in the Sea of Monsters..._

_Grover pushing Annabeth off of the cliff..._

_Grover throwing Luke into the Styx and making him host Kronos..._

_Grover killing Leneus so he would become an Elder of the Wild..._

_Grover making Festus malfunction..._

_Grover sticking a spear through Gwen during war games..._

_And finally, Grover running Percy through, laughing insanely..._

__Percy threw his popcorn in the air. "Great movie, Nico. But why did you need to show me all that."

"You fool!" Nico hit Percy upside the head. "Grover is the one behind all of this! He's the one you need to kill!"

"But... Grover doesn't have a furry face..." Percy said.

"His butt is furry!"

"Close enough!" Percy said.

"Good. Now, I must go see how Michal Jackson is doing. I made him come back to life, you know."

"So he's not dead?"

"Of course he's not dead! This is fanfiction! I can do whatever I want! Even if it means lying to you and the populace!"

"Hey, you already did that in the real book. Can you get me Michal Jackson's autograph?"

"Sure, Percy," Nico said, and shadow traveled away.

Percy went off to find Grover, who was in the woods, torturing innocent dryads. He was laughing manically.

"I HAVE KILLED PERCY JACKSON! I AM THE GREATEST FICTIONAL CHARACTER WHO EVER LIVED!" He screamed.

"That's what you think, goat boy!" Percy yelled. Grover turned at his voice, but since Percy was a ghost, he couldn't see him. Percy stabbed him with Riptide, and Grover turned into a daffodil. A very evil daffodil.

Percy stood, and waited for the chapter to end, like the prophecy had said. But it didn't.

"What the heck! That British kid lied to me!" Percy screamed. Since he had nothing better to do, he went back to the arena to watch the campers dance.

When he got there, the song had changed to "Dancing Queen." Everyone was still dancing, except Chiron, who was standing with a funny expression on his face.

"Oh dear, that bean toast wasn't a good idea..." Chiron said. A rumbling started in the depths of his stomach. Percy just had time to run for cover when...

BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

The camp was immediately vaporized. Suddenly, all of the characters turned to look at Percy, who was emerging from the lake.

"Percy! You're alive!" Annabeth screamed.

"No, you guys are all dead," Percy said.

The Aphrodite campers started sobbing, because that meant that they couldn't wear make up anymore.

Chiron scampered around. Being immortal, he had not died, but now he couldn't find any of the campers.

"Children! Where are you?" Suddenly, he collapsed. "What the... oh, no."

And Chiron died because he had killed all of the campers, which meant that there was no one for him to teach anymore, so he wasn't immortal.

* * *

><p>Percy opened his eyes.<p>

"What the..." He was lying on the deck of the Argo II. No one was insight, except for a mouse sitting on his chest.

Percy screamed and flung the mouse off of him. It somersaulted through the air and turned into a big Chinese kid before it hit the ground.

"Frank!" Percy exclaimed. "Where is everybody?"

"Oh, Jason knocked you out and ran away with Annabeth. Hazel and Leo had an affair and went to the Underworld because Hazel was WAY past childbearing age, so they both died. Piper got incredibly depressed and became a pirate. I stayed here because I have fallen in love with this ship. Chiron and Lupa got in an epic battle and are trying to destroy each other. Octavian set himself on fire and Rachel jumped on him. They both fell off a cliff. Reyna has been grounded and the Stolls robbed Great Western Bank and are now on the run as outlaws. Plus, Rick Riordan was accidentally viciously murdered by a bunch of raccoons, so the series is no more! Just another day with the Kanes," Frank said.

"What the heck! And who are the Kanes?" Percy asked.

Just then, a mysterious sand portal appeared and two teenagers fell out, holding wand and random bags, wearing what looked like pajamas.

"What the bloody heck just happened?" the girl asked. "This is not Hollywood!"

"HOLLYWOOD!" Percy screamed. "I am the only one who has a movie made about me!"

Harry Potter suddenly appeared out of thin air. "That's what you think... I have EIGHT movies! Oi! Beat that!"

The girl gasped. "OMG! Another British person! I WIIL DATE YOU!"

"Okay!" Harry exclaimed. "Oi! Ginny! I'm dumping you!"

A sob came from far away. Just then, another girl and a male ginger appeared out of nowhere.

"How dare you break my sister's heart, Harry!" The boy yelled.

"Yeah, Harry, what's your problem?" The girl added.

"Ron! Hermoine! I... um... look over there!"

Stupidly, Ron and Hermoine fell for it. They turned. Harry yelled, "Avada Kendrava!" Ron and Hermoine fell to the ground. And suddenly, a pasty white man with no nose rose from the ground.

"Ah, Harry, you have given me blood sacrifice and killed with you own wand! You broke your protection spell! I live again!" Voldemort raised his wand. "Avada Kendrava!"

Harry ducked. The bolt of green light hit Frank, who fell down.

"No! Frank!" Percy raced over, but Frank was already standing.

"What is happening?" screamed Voldemort.

"Characters from another series can't die by the hands of characters from a separate one," Hermione explained.

"Wow, you sound like Annabeth. Want to date me?" Percy asked.

"Sure!" Hermione said.

"Wait, how did you randomly come back to life?" Harry said, confused. Ron was still dead a few feet away.

"Oops, I brought the wrong character back to life," Nico yelled, popping in from the shadows.

"Anubis!" Sadie screamed.

"I am not the bloody Egyptian god of death! Do I LOOK like a jackal?" Nico screamed.

"I've noticed I haven't really done anything here, so... can I go now?" Carter said.

"Sure, no one likes you anyway," Sadie waved her brother off.

Carter looked hurt. He jumped off of the side of the boat, not realizing that they were a bunch of feet in the air, and fell too his death.

"Oops," said Sadie. "Let's go, hottie."

"Okay," Nico said. He and Sadie disappeared into the shadows. Frank fell facedown on the deck and started kissing the floor. Ron's body floated away.

"Okay..." Percy said.

"That was really weird," Harry added.

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Voldemort screamed. "AVADA-"

"Wanna go get some chicken wings?" Percy asked Harry.

"Sure," Harry replied.

They walked off together. Voldemort looked crestfallen.

"Oh, every time I try to kill Harry-" he was interrupted from his moping by an orange popping into the picture.

"Put a banana into your favorite ear!" The orange screamed and disappeared.

"Okay... Accio Banana!" Voldemort stuck the banana in his ear and walked away to go wreak havoc and terror on the wizarding world.

The End.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, that was really bizarre. I don't know exactly what was happening in my mind when I wrote this but anyway... review if you liked it! Flame or what, I don't care. Happy April Fool's Day!<strong>

**Quiz Question of the Update: What would Leo yell if he were to jump off a building and try to fly? Jason or Leo's phrase both acceptable.**

**PS. Did you ever realize that Percy/Jason (totally gross, btw, and NEVER going to happen) is Person? Huh, random...**


	14. Chapter 14

**HEY YOU GUYS!**

**I is backs! Sorry for not updating, but I was trying to get the fight in this scene right and it's still not great, but I felt bad about not updating. So... yeah. **

**WOOT WOOT! OVER 100 REVIEWS! THANKS YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Seriously, I expected to get about 50 for this entire thing!**

**Answer to the Quiz Question: Here is the quotes from the book: "And hey, maybe you can fly too!" Jason said. "Like jump off a building and yell, 'Flame on!'" Leo snorted. "If I did that, you'd see a flaming kid falling to his death and I'd be yelling something a little stronger than 'Flame on!'"**

**Here is the chapter! Enjoy!**

XII

Leo

Leo was on fire.

Wait, no, not _literally._ He had done enough of that in the past few hours. No, this was metaphorical fire. Wow, big word. Sounded like something Annabeth would say... Octavian, tacos... whoa, way off topic. Curse A.D.H.D.

Anyway, he had turned the ship around like it was sailing on glass. They were making good progress back towards New York and then off to Europe. Where danger, death, and possible dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant awaited them. Leo was like, _Cake._

He set the ship on autopilot and went back up on deck. No matter how interesting it was flying, it was much more interesting up there.

For example, everyone had randomly come back up on deck, like it was some sort of ESP memo. Hazel was hanging upside-from a rope, laughing as Frank changed into different weird animals. Piper was studying Jason by looking at him with the side of her dagger, pretending to be cleaning it. Jason was on one side of the ship, staring off into space. Leo didn't want to distract him, because he had his wolf "I'm trying to hunt here and need the utmost concentration. Don't bother me," look on, the one that Leo had come to know so well that he could duck a split second before Jason attacked him instinctively. It was kind of funny, actually, except for the few carefully placed blows. Those had hurt.

Percy and Annabeth were on the opposite side. Annabeth was going on about some architectural thing, more than likely. Percy looked like he wasn't really paying attention. He was kind of pale and his hands gripped the railings.

Leo walked over to them, because they seemed like the ones who would not kill him if he interrupted.

"Enjoying the flight?" he asked.

Annabeth nodded in an offhand way. Percy winced.

"I don't fly," he muttered.

"Um... yeah. No one does, except for maybe Sparky, and the Shape-Shifting Zhang," Leo said.

Percy laughed. "I meant, it's not good for me to be in the air. Zeus/Poseidon rivalry... you know."

"Actually, I don't know, but thanks for telling me," Leo said, which made both Percy and Annabeth smile.

Leo walked off. He was pretty sure that he would be pretty busy with the ship and all...

* * *

><p><em>Two Hours Later<em>

Piper stood up, her dagger clattering on the floor. "Okay, guys, can we please do something productive? I'm just sitting here and it's driving me insane!"

Hazel and Jason nodded. Annabeth shrugged and Percy agreed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to jump off of this boat if I stay this bored."

Leo was like, _Heck yeah! _The Argo II was so well tuned there was absolutely NOTHING to do.

"I guess we could go have a meeting..." Annabeth said.

"Um, okay," Hazel said. "Although, does it have to be that formal? How about dinner?"

As soon as she uttered those words, there was a mad rush for the kitchen.

* * *

><p><em>Five Minutes Later<em>

Everyone was sitting, chowing down on sandwiches, chips, and lemonade. The nymphs had packed a pretty good selection of supplies in the ship's kitchen, which was a lot better than the berries the satyrs had picked them at Camp Half-Blood. Leo had stocked the cupboards with nuts and pretzels before they left, typical airplane food, but those hadn't lasted long on a ship of hungry demigods flying to California.

The seven of them laughed and joked for a while about Octavian and Rachel, reenacting the scenario, which was pretty hilarious even over peanut butter and jelly.

Just then, though, the ship lurched.

And fell out of the sky.

* * *

><p><strong>MWA HA HA HA! I AM SO EVIL! WORLD DOMINATION! EVIL LAUGH, EVIL LAUGH! OH, THIS IS TOO GOOD! MWA HA HA HA! I SAID THAT ALREADY, DIDN'T I... YEAH, UM, AWKWARD! I'M STILL SHOUTING AND I DON'T KNOW WHY! ANYWHO... IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS THE END OF THE CHAPTER... YOU ARE WRONG! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! <strong>

**Oh, that felt good... **

* * *

><p>Leo was running through the ship to the control room.<p>

With a herd of demons after him.

Okay, not true, unless you counted six other demigods who were pounding after him and yelling at him, like, _Why the heck did the ship break, Leo?_

So, not _actual _demons. But just as bad.

The ship was still plummeting through the air. Jason was trying his best to slow their descent, but it wasn't working too well. The boat was just too big.

Leo came to a halt near the control room. He was going way too fast though, and ended skidding on the wood floor and flailing around, trying not to fall over.

The others weren't so lucky. Leo stopped so suddenly that someone ran into him and someone ran into the other person and another person ran into them until they were all in a heap on the floor, except for Percy, who had tripped on the way down the stair and was now lying halfway up and halfway down, groaning.

Leo untangled himself from the mass of arms and legs and dashed into the control room. He grabbed the control stick and yanked up, hard.

The ship immediately slowed and pulled up, leaving Leo's stomach somewhere down in Oklahoma, the location they were currently over.

"Ugh. What happened?" Jason asked, helping Piper up.

"I don't know..." Leo punched buttons wildly. And then he saw the one on the side of the control panel that was black and smoking. "Aw, what the heck? The autopilot button spontaneously combusted, apparently."

"Huh?" Annabeth said. "It was fine when I set it."

"Well, look," Leo said, gesturing to the button. "It's not fine now."

Annabeth wrinkled her forehead. "I don't understand..."

"That's a first!" Percy exclaimed. She punched him.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to have to fly the ship, at least until we get to the Pacific," Leo muttered. "You guys can go."

Everyone looked at each other.

"Nah, we'll stay," Jason said.

"Yeah. It's not like we have anything better to do," Piper added.

So, they all sat down around the controls.

There were only about two chairs in the room, so most everyone sat down on the floor. Frank and Hazel sat in one corner, Piper and Jason in the other, and Annabeth and Percy in a third. Leo sat at the helm and flew.

"So..." Percy said. "Where too, Repair Boy?"

Leo glared at Piper. "Thanks, Beauty Queen."

"Don't call me Beauty Queen!"

Leo turned back to Percy. "I was thinking we might go to Rome first... it's closer, and we need to figure out what to do in Gre-"

Leo was cut off by Percy and Annabeth, talking in unison. "No, we have to go to Greece first." They stared at each other. "Why?" Percy shook his head.

"Greece came first. And, we need more time to plan for Rome. Thatnos said that only a special demigod could find the Doors of Death. Nico is being held there, but I have a feeling that Gaea won't kill him until she gets us. Plus, there's the prophecy. We should definitely go to Greece first."

Annabeth looked impressed. "Nice, Seaweed Brain. I couldn't have said it better myself."

Percy grinned. "Nice to know that I can be as smart as you sometimes, Wise Girl."

"You're pushing it."

"Wait." Jason had stood up. "Leo's right. We should do Rome first, and then Greece, if we have time."

"Are you kidding me?" Percy said. "Remember, your giant said that they were going to tear the gods up by the roots. Roots=Mt. Olympus=Greece. We can't save that for, 'If we have time.'"

"How'd you know that?" Jason asked him.

"I have friends in high places," Percy replied, gesturing to Annabeth.

"Oh, so, everyone else's opinion doesn't count?" Jason retorted.

"Fine, then," Percy said. "Show of hands. Who wants to go to Greece first?"

Annabeth and Percy raised their hands immediately. Piper's went up after a pause and Leo followed suit.

Jason glared at Piper. She shrugged. "Percy's making good sense."

Percy looked at Frank and Hazel. Hazel winced. "Sorry, Percy, but I really just need to know my brother's safe."

Frank nodded. "I think we should go to Rome, too."

Jason nodded and put his hand up. "Rome."

Percy shrugged. "Well, majority rules. Greece it is."

Frank and Hazel shrugged and went back to talking, like nothing had happened. But Jason was still on his feet, anger showing clearly on his face.

"You just think that you can waltz in here, take my position, and then start making all of the decisions, don't you?"

Percy slowly turned towards him. "Um, no. If you recall, it wasn't my decision to take your position and I did want to give it back."

"Well, then I'll take it. You're not the only leader here, Percy."

"Yes, but I'm definitely the leader with the most experience."

"Oh, so I don't count for anything?" Jason said. "Let's see, while we've been fighting and getting ready for this war for the past six months, you've been sleeping!"

"Hey, that's not my fault. I don't know exactly what Hera thought that would accomplish, but we're still alive, aren't we?"

"We might not be if you keep making these reckless decisions!"

"Jason," Piper said. "Calm 're all stressed-"

"Stressed?" Jason spat out the word. "If there was a better choice in leadership we might not be stressed!"

"Jason-"

"No, he's right, Piper," Percy said, his jaw tight. "Maybe we should've elected Octavian for praetor instead. He could've done a better job than _someone_ in this room."

Jason's mouth fell open. "What?"

"That's right," Percy said. "It was either me or Octavian to replace _you_. I'd like to think that they picked the better person. But you don't seem to think so."

Immediately, Jason had his gladius out and pointed at Percy's throat. Percy had a pen in his hand almost as fast. He clicked it and it morphed into a Celestial Bronze sword, sharp and deadly.

"I'm not afraid to use this," Jason said.

"I'd like to see you try," Percy retorted.

"Oh, please? You think you could take me? I've been training with the Legion since I was ten! How long have you been at Camp Half-Blood?"

"Since I was twelve."

"And you've been out of commission for almost a year."

"So? I've gone on four quests, defeated four Titans, two giants, defeated armies, saved Olympus-"

"And you couldn't have done that without the help of Rome!"

"And you can't win this war without us! So get off your cloud and come back down to earth with the rest of us, where you belong!"

The rest of the demigods were standing in silence. Leo felt like he needed to crack a joke or something, but the tension in the air was too thick.

"My cloud? You've just been hanging out, all important, while everyone else is actually working back at your camp! Do you have any idea how hard they searched for you? Not that you deserve it, the way you treat them. You left them, just to gain more power or whatever it is you crave!"

Percy looked like Jason had just slapped him.

"Jason!" Piper exclaimed.

Leo thought he saw regret flicker across Jason's face, but it was gone immediately, his pride blocking off any remorse.

"You're wrong," Percy said, his voice barely audible. "You'll never know how much it hurt me not to be there. They were so close to finding me, but I gave up coming home to save _your _camp!" He was shouting now. "I never wanted this! I thought it was all over last summer! I thought I could finally be relatively normal! I'd give anything to be anywhere but here!"

"If you don't like it here, maybe you should leave!"

Percy looked at him, rage boiling in his eyes. "Fine. Let's see you try to win this war without me." He threw his sword on the floor, turned on his heel, and stomped up the steps.

Jason growled. He turned and blasted the only chair in the room with lightning, frying it to bits. Then he stalked off.

Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Piper, and Leo stood in shock, not daring to move.

"Wow..." Piper said.

Annabeth sighed. "Big Three children are usually prideful of themselves or kind of... clueless. Mixed together is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Hazel and Frank," she directed. "You go talk to Percy. Piper and Leo, go talk to Jason. I'll stay here and fly the ship."

"Don't you think you should go talk to Percy?" Frank asked.

"No, I'm his girlfriend," Annabeth reasoned. "He'll expect me to say he's right. Maybe you guys can calm him down without totally boosting his ego."

Frank and Hazel shrugged and took off after Percy. Piper and Leo started after Jason.

Leo sighed. He wasn't they type to calm someone down.

He was usually the fire.

_Who knew flames could be such a bad thing. Both figuratively and literally._

* * *

><p><strong>Well, then. Jason, tsk tsk. I have a feeling Jason's fatal flaw is something like pride... I don't know. So, there you go! JasonPercy conflict! That wasn't as good as some, but oh well.**

**I realize I haven't done a disclaimer for a while... hmmm...**

**Percy: She doesn't own me!**

**Me: What are you talking about?**

**Percy: Don't listen to her! She is not Rick Riordan! She does not own me!**

**Annabeth: Or me!**

**Jason: Or me!**

**Me: Oh, shut up Jason. You're in time out for fighting with Percy in this chapter.**

**Jason: Hmmph.**

**Me: They're crazy! Don't pay them any attention!**

**Rick Riordan: No, they're right. You don't own them. I do. Can I go home now?**

**Me: ONLY AFTER YOU GIVE ME A SNEAK PEEK OF THE MARK OF ATHENA!**

**RR: Fine.**

**Sneak Peek of The Mark of Athena**

**By Rick Riordan**

**Chapter One**

**Me: That wasn't a sneak peek! We already knew the title and that it was by you and that it would have a first chapter! **

**RR: You didn't say it had to be a LONG sneak peek. And BTW, she doesn't own me either.**

**Me: Oh, shut up. I think I'll put you in time out with Jason.**

**RR: NOOOOO!**

**Me: Give me your laptop! There! MWA HA HA HA! I have disbanded the greatest author of the decade! Don't worry, I'll still make sure he writes. **

**Nico: Psst. She doesn't own us.**

**Me: Nico! You aren't in this scene! You're captured by Gaea, remember?**

**Nico: Oh, yeah...**

**Piper: *Charmspeaking* You don't own PJO... you don't own PJO...**

**Me: Sadly, they are right. SOB! I don't own PJO! But that doesn't mean I can't have a lot of fun with them...**

**Percy: Oh, snap...**

**Annabeth: Quiz Question of the Update: What does Arion call Frank the first time he "talks"? **

**Nico: Review!**

**Me: Nico, you're supposed to be with Gaea!**

**Nico: ...**

***Giant crack opens in the earth and swallows Nico***

**Me: Oopsie! NICO WILL NOT COME BACK UNLESS YOU REVIEW! SO DO IT! ALL FLAMES BELONG TO LEO!**

**Leo: *Running by while on fire* Yups!**

**Frank: SCREAM!**

**Hazel: SOB!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yo, Friends! I is back and better than ever!**

**Okay, I have something to tell you and you are going to hate me for this: DO NOT EXPECT UPDATE FOR THE NEXT MONTH OR SO!**

**Okay, here is the reason: I am trying to skip a grade, which involves a lot of studying and writing reports and such, which is going to take up a lot of my time. Don't worry, if I PM with you, I'll still PM, I just probably won't make writing a main focus. However, that does NOT mean I won't update in the next five-ish weeks. Just don't expect me to update. This story is NOT being stopped forever, just temporarily on hiatus. Which is why I'm giving you a nice chapter with no cliffhanger. So... yeah. DON'T HATE ME DON'T HATE ME DON'T HATE ME! Please?**

**Remember: THIS DOESN'T MEAN I SHALL NOT UPDATE! IT JUST WON'T HAPPEN REGULARLY! OKAY? OKAY. I'LL STOP SHOUTING NOW.**

**Answer to the last quiz question: "I will trample you to death, silly Chinese Canadian baby man!"**

**Yups! Okay, here is your chapter!**

* * *

><p>XIII<p>

Hazel

Hazel and Frank climbed up the steps. One... two... three... four... five... six... seven...

Hazel's mind was practically numb. The fight she had just seen had scared her worse than any monster ever could. Percy and Jason, arguing... if they couldn't get along, the two leaders, the ones who were _supposed _to be able to keep their heads and work stuff out, how would the Greeks and Romans ever be able to?

Eight... nine... ten... eleven...

She and Frank reached the top of the stairs. Down the hall, out a door, and they were back on the deck of the Argo II.

Hazel scanned the floor. The masts, the bow, the stern, starboard and port... no Percy.

"There he is," Frank said.

Hazel looked up. Percy had made himself a little nest up in the rigging. He was sitting on one of the sails, kind of like a hammock, feet hanging over the edge. Looking east, towards the Pacific.

Towards _his _home.

Frank started scaling the ropes. Hazel grabbed one and started behind him. Luckily, with all the legion training they had received at Camp Jupiter, it didn't take very long before they were up beside Percy.

"Go away," he said.

"Um... how about no?" Frank replied.

Percy shrugged indifferently. He didn't seem mad anymore, just exhausted and lonely and sad.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Percy broke it. "Where's Annabeth?"

Frank laughed, kind of hastily. "Back flying the ship. She said you wouldn't want her to come and talk to you, anyway."

Percy nodded. "She's right. She's always right."

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked.

"I think so." Percy turned to face them, his eyes filled with pain. "I'm so confused right now... I mean, I'm supposed to have to make a decision that I won't be able to make, I'm supposed to prevent war or something from happening between demigods, and now I'm this stupid Mark of Athena thing! Can't I just get a break?" He looked away again. "Sorry. I just... sometimes, I wonder what made me qualify for all of this? Why am I so special? Why do I have to be special?"

Hazel looked at Frank. Neither of them really knew how to answer that. Mostly because everyone had been thinking the same thing of themselves.

"Look," Hazel put an arm around Percy. "You're crazy. You're reckless. You don't want to follow orders-"

"You're a super wicked swordsman," Frank put in.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "But you're Percy. You're you. And that's all we need. No one needs you to take the entire world on your shoulders. No one said you have to make all the decisions. No one _expects _you to be a leader... but that's who you are. Just like Frank is the only demigod on Earth who is relatively normal in society, minus the shape-shifting part. And just like I'm supposed to be dead and trying to figure out if I'm in love with one of my prophecy buddies ancestors. Which I'm not," Hazel added, seeing the look Frank was giving her. "But we're us. And in the long run, that's all any of us is ever going to need."

Percy thought about that for a moment. Then he smiled. "Thanks, Hazel."

"Yeah, thanks," Frank echoed. "That was deep."

Hazel shoved him playfully. He pushed her back, knocking her into Percy, who gave both of them a nudge, until they were having a mini-shoving war and laughing until they collapsed in the sails.

Suddenly, Percy shot straight up. He turned his head back towards the side of the ship. Quickly, he scrambled down the rigging and rushed to the side.

Hazel and Frank glanced at each other and followed.

Percy had both hands on the railings, leaning so far over the edge Hazel was afraid he was going to fall off of the ship. He was looking so intently that Hazel was sure he was going to burn a hole in the ground.

She followed his gaze. Hills bumped up out of the ground. Rolling fields of plants dotted them. Hazel could see small flames, flickering in the night, along with a bigger one that was glowing... was that _purple_? Campfires. Song rose through the darkness, carefree, like the occupants down below had no idea what was really going on up above them.

Percy was stretching out a hand, like he wanted to touch the scene.

"That's Camp Half-Blood," he said, his voice cracking a little. "There's the cabins... and the woods, and the climbing wall, and the amphitheater, and the arena, and the dining hall... and the pegasus stables, and the beach, and the strawberry gardens, and the Big House..." He trailed off, his voice filled with longing.

Hazel and Frank stood with him, on either side, letting him watch as his friends and his home rolled past.

All too soon, they were gone and the ship was descending into the ocean.

Percy straightened up and sighed. "So... you think we'd better go back down and see how everyone else is doing?"

Hazel nodded. But Frank was staring at a shape cutting through the water.

"What's that?" he asked.

Percy uncapped Riptide. "I'm not sure."

Frank drew his bow and some arrows as the shape got closer. Hazel grabbed her sword as well.

"Should I shoot?" Frank asked.

"Yeah... wait, no!" Percy said. "Rainbow!"

Well, that was so strange both Hazel and Frank put their weapons down slightly and stared at Percy in confusion.

"Um... are you sure you're okay?"

"You're talking about a weather phenomenon that is physically impossible to be occurring at night," Hazel added.

"No, the hippocampus! Tyson named him Rainbow about... three years ago. I knew he usually hung out around here, but why would he come up to the ship?"

"Wait... does that shape flying around look familiar to you?" Frank asked.

"Yeah..." Hazel squinted into the darkness just as the flying shape came hurtling towards them.

"Friends! Ella has found her friends! _Betrayed by the one who calls you a friend. _Nope, no betraying. Betrayed: verb. To be disloyal by acting in the interests of an enemy. Enemy. Gaea. _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call_..."

"That's great, Ella," Percy said, still trying to make out the figure of the hippocampus. "That's way to big to be Rainbow..."

Meanwhile, Frank was trying to get Ella to stop perching on his head. "Um, Ella, how did you get here? And please get off my head."

Ella started bouncing around. "Tyson! Tyson brought Ella! Tyson is strong and good for harpies. Tyson is Percy's brother. Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. One of the world's largest processors and marketers of chicken, beef and pork, as well as prepared foods. The company provides products and services to customers throughout the United States and more than 90 countries. Tyson employs 115,000 Team Members at more than 400 facilities and offices in the U.S. and around the world... Tyson good for harpies. Yup."

"Wonderful... I really needed to know about the history of those dinosaur chicken nugget people."

"Tyson?" Percy called.

"I am here, brother!" Tyson jumped from Rainbow the hippocampus and enveloped Percy in a hug. "I have come to see you! And Annabeth! Where is Annabeth?"

"Flying the ship."

"Good! That scary kid almost got Ella." Tyson frowned. "Talked about some books."

Percy looked at Frank and Hazel, eyes wide. "Octavian knows."

"Yes, Octavian!" Tyson agreed. "But don't worry! Rainbow helped us! He brought us to you! And look!" Tyson rummaged around in the sack on his back. "I brought you your watch! And peanut butter!"

Hazel laughed as Tyson shoved about a dozen jars of peanut butter and a wristwatch into Percy's arms, causing him to drop Riptide.

"Well... gee, thanks, Tyson," Percy said. "How about we go see what Annabeth is up to? And Leo and Piper and Jason."

Tyson perked up even more. "Yes! We shall see Annabeth and Leo! Leo built the ship! He is funny and small."

Percy laughed. "Yeah, I noticed. Come on, big guy. Let's go."

They started back towards the control room, Tyson bounding ahead. Ella used Frank's skull as a launching pad and flew after him. Frank, and Percy, staggering under the weight of all the peanut butter, followed.

Hazel watched them go. Boats weren't usually her favorite place in the world, but this one seemed nice, with the salty night air flowing past Hazel's face. She thought she would stay up here for a while and think.

Percy seemed to have calmed down a ton. He was smiling again and generally being happy-ish.

Hazel smiled too. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard...

* * *

><p>Oh. My. Gods.<p>

The place was chaos.

Hazel had walked down from the deck after about half an hour of thinking. As soon as she neared the control room, she could hear shouting coming from under the door.

She pushed the door opened and gasped.

The room was basically torn apart. Percy and Leo were arguing loudly over something. Piper was whispering in Jason's ear, causing him to pass over little slips of paper. Ella was flying around the room, squawking madly. Tyson was hammering something tiny in his hand, which he gave to Percy, who looked at it and forgot Leo, instead complaining about whatever it was. Leo suddenly ripped the pieces of paper from Piper's hands and ignited them, laughing like a maniac. Piper drew her dagger and started chasing Leo around the room. Frank was digging through the cupboards, making a sandwich. Jars of peanut butter were stalked in a heap by him. Annabeth, meanwhile, was still driving the ship, with earbuds in, happily rocking out in whatever little world she was in.

"STOP!" Hazel shouted over the din.

Everyone immediately froze. Piper had Leo by the hair. Tyson and Percy were using their arms to gesture wildly about, so they were stuck in awkward positions. Frank stopped, his sandwich halfway to his mouth. Ella landed in his head again and started pecking at the bread. Frank gave her a look. Annabeth was actually singing, but turned red when she realized there was no noise to cover her anymore, and stopped.

Only Jason moved. He took something in his hand and bounced it across the floor. "Ha! Leo, you owe me five hundred!"

"Aw, man," Leo said. He stomped over to Jason and threw a fistful of paper at him. Jason happily collected it.

"Is he winning?" Piper asked, coming over to inspect whatever they were doing.

"Yes," Percy groaned.

"WHAT is going ON?" Hazel was still shouting.

Everyone looked at her strangely.

"You guys shouldn't be fighting like this!" she continued. "Didn't you learn anything from an hour ago?"

"Um, Jason and I made up," Percy said. "And Hazel..."

"What?"

"We're playing Monopoly."

* * *

><p><strong>And, scene! And now... the DISCLAIMER!<strong>

**Random Person You've Never Seen Before: Hiya, guys! I am Percabethforever234! I asked PeaceLoveAndCheese to advertise my story last update, but she didn't do it!**

**Me: I'm sorry! Okay?**

**Percabethforever234: So I have taken over her disclaimer. And I am here to say... SHE DOES NOT OWN PJO!**

**Me: NOOOOO!**

**Rick Riordan: Neither do you.**

**Percabethforever234: Yeah, well, who said I did? I sure didn't...**

**Rick Riordan: That's true...**

**Percabethforever234: But I DO own a computer! And a FanFiction account! Which means, dear RR, that I can TAKE YOUR CHARACTERS AND DO WHATEVER I WANT!**

**Rick Riordan: I don't really care. You still don't own them. I HAVE MOVIE RIGHTS!**

**Percy: Hey, do we even get a say in this?**

**Rick Riordan & Percabethforever234: NO! SHUT UP!**

**Percy: Fine, be that way. I'm just going to converse with these guys over here. *Stalks off to other demigods***

**Annabeth: It's okay, Percy.**

**Me: We still love you Percy!**

**Percy: Shut up. Nobody likes you. You tried to steal us away from our creator.**

**Me: SOB!**

**Jason: Hey, how about me? Who loves me?**

**Everyone: ...**

**Jason: Leo? Piper?**

**Leo: Um, no. That would be wrong.**

**Piper: Sorry, Jason, but you seem to have forgotten your personality. I like guys with more kick. Right, Dylan?**

**Dylan: Yeah, baby. Now what do you say to that date?**

**Piper: Sure! And, besides, Jason, you're still in time out. Remember.**

**Jason: Nobody likes me...**

**Me: You're right.**

**Jason: Hmmph.**

**Reyna: Hey, stop being mean to him. I LOVE YOU, JASON!**

**Jason: Yay! *Flys off into the sunset with Reyna, followed by Piper and Dylan***

**Leo: Hey, why don't I get a girlfriend?**

**Hugs6: *Randomly appearing* Here is my OC, Maria! Date her!**

**Leo: Okay! **

**Maria: I LOVE YOU! Can I kiss you?**

**Leo: Baby, light my fire! *Kisses Maria, who spontaneously combusts***

**Hugs6: NO! YOU RUINED MY OC!**

**Me: Chill, Hugs. This is FanFiction. She'll come back to life.**

**Maria: Yups!**

**Percy: WILL ANYBODY LISTEN TO ME?**

**Nico: I'll listen Percy!**

**Percy: Shut up, Nico. You're supposed to be CAPTURED! C-A-P-T-E-R-D!**

**Annabeth: Um, Percy...**

**Percy: DRAT YOU DYSLEXIA! Hey, how come that word is so hard to spell?**

**Annabeth: Some mysteries we shall never know...**

**Me: Right that is! Like why everyone thinks I'm crazy. I've got no clue why!**

**Percy & Annabeth: ...**

**Percabethforever234: Hey! The entire point of this was so I could advertise my story! So... people! Go read The Mark of Athena by Percabethforever234! It's awesome!**

**Percy: It has me in it!**

**Annabeth: Me too!**

**Nico: Me three!**

**Percy: SHUT UP!**

**Annabeth: Wow, Nico, you can count to three. That's higher than Percy.**

**Percy: Hey! I can so... 1... 2... what comes after 2?**

**Annabeth: *Facepalm* 3, Percy, 3.**

**Rick Riordan: But she doesn't own any of them!**

**Everyone: SHUT UP!**

**Me: You are going in time out again, for squashing our hopes and dreams! Give me your laptop!**

**Rick Riordan: You have it, remember?**

**Me: No, I don't...**

**Travis Stoll: Ha! I stole it!**

**Connor Stoll: Good one! *High fives***

**Me: *Facepalm* You guys will never change...**

**Travis & Connor: Nope!**

**Percy: *Presses pause button* Okay, so, just so I can get a word in here, I'm pausing all of this! Except for the actual PJO characters. *All PJO characters unfreeze* Okay, guys. Here's what I propose: We're not getting fair compensation-**

**Leo: Wow, big word.**

**Jason: When did you get back?**

**Leo: Same time you, Piper, and Reyna did. Sorry, Piper, Coach Hedge kind of killed Dylan. Dylan is annoying.**

**Coach Hedge: DIE!**

**Grover: It's a wonder we still associate him with us.**

**Don the Faun: Yups! Hey, got any money?**

**Grover: No!**

**Percy: EVERYBODY SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP! *Everybody sits down and shuts up* Okay, so, since we aren't getting any rights, I think that we should... go on strike!**

**Annabeth: That's actually smart.**

**Leo: Like Newsies!**

**Everyone: ...**

**Leo: What? It's a good musical? *Singing* When I dream, on my own, I'm alone but I ain't lonely... for a dreamer night's the only time of day! When the city's finally sleeping! All my thoughts begin to stray! And I'm on the train that's bound for Santa Fe...**

**Jason: Okay...**

**Percy: So, are you with me?**

**Everyone: Yeah!**

**Percy: THEN LET'S DO IT!**

**Leo: *Still singing* Ain't it a fine life! Carrying the banner through it all!**

* * *

><p><strong>Scream! The horror! The horror! The PJO characters have gone on strike! Rick Riordan is in time out! The Stolls have stolen his computer and are now rewriting the Mark of Athena to be based around them! Piper wants to date Dylan! Coach Hedge is a ninja! I have Contest tomorrow, so wish me luck! Don wants money! Chocolate is delicious, but I don't have any! Percabethforever234 needs you to review her story! And... LEO IS STILL SINGING! DUN DUN DUN! WHAT WILL HAPPEN? WILL LEO STOP? WILL THE MARK OF ATHENA BE SAVED? WILL COACH HEDGE KILL PEOPLE? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!<strong>

**Percabethforever234: And go read my story!**

**Me: And review!**

**PJO characters: Strike! Strike! Strike!**

**Leo: *Singing* I'm the King of New York!**

**Percy: No, I am...**

**Rick Riordan: I NEED MY COMPUTER! Wow, who knew figments of my imagination could do this much damage?**

**Annabeth: Quiz Question of the Update: What does Bessie's Greek name mean translated into English?**

**Piper: Review... review...**

**Me: YOU HAVE BEEN *CHARMTYPED! REVIEW, ALREADY!**

***Charmtyped taken from Bradie Daughter of Hebe. GO READ HER STORY TOO!**

**Percabethforever234: And mine!**

**Me: *Facepalm* Just go do SOMETHING! Don't sit here and waste your time reading this disclaimer that I'm pretty sure is going to go on for all eternity.**

**Leo: *Singing* Open the gates and seize the day...**


	16. AMAZING AN OF GREAT IMPORTANCE! READ!

HEY YOU GUYS! OKAY, THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE! REPEAT! THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE! BUT I HAVE SOME IMPORTANT NEWS! NEWS THAT WILL MAKE YOU DROP YOUR JAW, SCREAM OUT LOUD AND DANCE FOR JOY! SO, HERE IT IS! HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS AND KEEP YOUR BODY PARTS INSIDE THE ROLLER COASTER OF EXCITEMENT FOR A LITTLE LONGER... Ready? Here we go... Are you sure you're ready? Don't be shocked... Are you positive I've trolled you enough? Just in case, a word from out sponser:

*Lights go out, save a single spotlight on Percy Jackson, who is sitting in the middle of the room, tied to a chair*

PERCY: Everyday is so wonderful... and then I'm there... tied to this chair... Everyday is so beautiful... until I die... or until my memories go missing and someone *cough, Hera, cough* dumps me in a camp full of Romans!

ME: Just get on with it!

PERCY: Fine. Okay, so the woman who has kidnapped me- *coughing from the woman who has kidnapped Percy*- I mean, the woman who has graciously allowed me to bask in her presence-

ME: Much better.

PERCY: Wants me to say that she doesn't own me.

ME: That's right folks! I know, you're gasping right now. But the person who wrote this sentence doesn't own PJO.

PERCY: Hey, speaking of PJO... well, HoO actually... and specifically, MoA-

ME: PERCY! YOU SPOILER! I WANTED TO TELL THEM! Well, I suppose since you've already started, you can finish...

PERCY: Yays! Hey, readers, if you go to this link:

Okay, the FF thing is being stupid. So, one part at a time... and now the FF thingy is REALLY being stupid, so just go to my profile and the link will be there... probably. If not, PM me. Or review, whatever.

You can read the first chapter of the... wait for it... given out loud to the audience on his Serpents Shadow tour, by the wonderful Rick Riordan, who brought me to life-

ME: THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE MARK OF ATHENA IS OUT FRIENDS!

*Screams from the audience*

PERCY: Hey, that was my line.

ME: Percy, nobody cares about you anymore. And if you do... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU SHOULD BE OVER READING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE MARK OF ATHENA! HURRY! GO! NOW! YOU MUST DO IT! WHY ARE YOU STILL SITTING HERE READING THIS WORTHLESS PIECE OF JUNK THAT PROBABLY WON'T BE UPDATED ANY TIME SOON... well, peace-love-writing has agreed to write you guys a few filler chapters while I'm away, but... THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT! GO! NOW! NOW! WHY AREN'T YOU GOING? GO NOWWWWWWWWWW!

PERCY: Seriously. I don't usually agree with her, but... DO IT!

ME: PS. There isn't the Percabeth reunion, unfortunately. But the first chapter is in Annabeth's POV, like so many of our fanfics made it to be!

EVERYONE WHO IS PART OF PJO OR LOVES IT OR EVEN REMOTELY KNOWS PERCY'S NAME: GO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER TO THE MARK OF ATHENA!


	17. Chapter 17

**I.**

**Am.**

**ALIVE!**

**Who missed me?**

***Crickets* **

**Drat.**

**Well, FFF (FanFiction Friends) I am back. And hopefully here to update... although I don't know... this is promising to be a long and rambling author's note, so...**

**WARNING: IF YOU DON'T LIKE LONG AUTHOR'S NOTES YOU SHOULD JUST SKIP OVER THIS THING, BECAUSE IT WILL TAKE A LOOOOOONNNNG TIME TO READ! **

**I'll just CAPS LOCK the really important stuff.**

**So, first things first: The updates on my life!**

**1. I am officially... a HIGH SCHOOLER! LET ME HEAR THE LOVE!**

***Crickets***

**Drat.**

**2. My testing thing went okay. I didn't do as well as I had hoped, only testing out of four of the five subjects I tried. Those four were: Algebra, ICT, English, and Civics. I FLUNKED Physical Science. But I'm okay with that now, mostly because all of my friends who tried it too did just as bad as me. THERE WERE RANDOM CHEMISTRY QUESTIONS THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT!**

**3. I AM FREE FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER! Which is only another seven weeks long... SOB!**

**That's about it... yups.**

**Next things next: WHO READ THE SERPENT'S SHADOW!**

**Get ready for a long screaming rambly speech... possibly filled with spoilers...**

**OMIBOB, OMIBOB, OMIBOB! HOW MUCH MORE PERFECTLY COULD RICK HAVE SET THAT UP! I MEAN, COME ON! FELIX IS SO A DEMIGOD! AND DREW AND LACY SHOWED UP! I SERIOUSLY SCREAMED WHEN THAT HAPPENED! RICK IS SO DOING A KC/HoO/PJO MASH UP! IT HAS BEEN DECLARED BY THE FATES!**

**Okay then...**

**Third things third: WHO HAS SEEN THE NEW MARK OF ATHENA COVER!**

**Well, I did, obviously. I mean, it's pure AWESOMENESS! There's the owl and Percy and Jason fighting on pegasi, with the lightning and water behind them... I SERIOUSLY WILL JUST BY THE BOOK AND STARE AT THE COVER! ALL! DAY! LONG! YES!**

**That was weird. BUT SERIOUSLY! IT IS AMAZING! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, GO NOW! TO THE MAGIC OF GOOGLE!**

**Fourth things fourth: PIANO!**

**I don't know who knows this, but I am quite musical: I sing and play the recorder, piano, drums, and can figure something out if you hand me a guitar and ten minutes. I also love music, sooooo... yeah. My current obsession is with the piano. I can spend HOURS in our living room doinking around on it. Currently, I am working on the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, Hedwigs Theme, and a medley that I have put together myself, including the Doctor Who theme, This is Gallifrey, and I Am The Doctor, which are all awesome songs. And these aren't baby arrangements either. THIS IS THE REAL THING, PEOPLE! So it takes a lot of practice, but I love it! Yups... and this brings me to:**

**Fifth things fifth: DOCTOR WHO!**

**And now I'm going to talk for 'round about five minutes about the Doctor and how amazing he is and the show and how you should go watch Doctor Who because it'll change your life forever and ever and ever and ever...**

**OmiBob, this is probably one of the best television shows ever created. About two months ago, one of my friends (Jarrad, for those that have heard me reference him. If not, let's just say he's a complete Whovian, smart, funny, nice, and is willing to rant with me on the poor mythology quality of Wrath of the Titans. He also worries about my randomness daily) kept telling me about this show, and I was all like, "What? What? I don't know what you are talking about?" So, he got me to watch one episode... and I was HOOKED! It's like an obsession, worthy of a spot in my fangirl world. I love everything about it: the sci-fi, the characters, the actors, the villains, the heroes, the plot, and of course, the music. The music is awesome, just go Google the theme and I Am The Doctor if you don't believe me. And, I actually got the reference in the Serpent's Shadow! Yes there is a Doctor Who reference. Um... bottom of page 141 to top of 142. That paragraph. If you don't get it, I'll explain if you review. But anyway, I like, laughed for five minutes STRAIGHT after reading this. It was hilarious! I quote this show all the time nowadays (Allons-y!) and look up everything about it. Unfortunately, my family are NOT as big of fans as I am and therefore will not let our Netflix list fill up with nothing but the Doctor, no matter how much I wish it to be so. I've currently gotten through, "The Girl In The Fireplace," in the NuWho series and hope to finish up to Matt Smith by the end of summer... but that's a high hope. The Sonic Screwdriver is awesome ("That's what I like about it. It doesn't wound, doesn't maim, doesn't kill... but I'll tell you what it does do. It is very good at opening doors." -David Tennant, _An Episode I Haven't Gotten To Yet But I Was Looking For Spoilers On YouTube_.) and so is the fact that the Doctor wants to be ginger ("Am I... ginger?" "No, you're just sort of... brown." "Aw, I wanted to be ginger! I've never been ginger! And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were! You almost gave up on me! Oh, that was rude, wasn't it? Is that the kind of man I am now? Rude? Rude and not ginger?" -David Tennant and Billie Piper, _The Christmas Invasion_.), mostly cause I am ginger. YES! GINGERS ROCK! **

**I was sad when Christopher Eccleston regenerated. I mean, that guy was awesome! My favorite Doctor line is probably his ("And everybody lives, Rose! Just this once! EVERYBODY LIVES!" -Christopher Eccleston, _The Doctor Dances_.), although I do love David Tennant's deleted 'I Hate Pears' speech and the whole ginger thing and oh! the Lion King reference in _The Christmas Invasion_! But now, I must say... I AM COMPLETELY IN LOVE WITH DAVID TENNANT! Not necessarily him, but DEFINITELY his personality and acting style. He's so physical, wheras Chris was mostly vocal. But I'll always hold a special place in my mind and heart for Christopher Eccleston. Funny, he was only around for thirteen episodes, while Tennant was around for four years... and then Matt Smith came along. Haven't seen him yet, so I'm not sure what he's like, but Tennant is AWESOMENESS! Almost as awesome as Percy... no. NO ONE CAN BEAT PERCY JACKSON!**

**So... yeah. Um, I've only seen Rose as a companion, but I think Martha is kinda cool and I'm not sure about Donna yet, mostly because she's already engaged, so... yeah. Um, but I ADORE Mickey. He's sweet and kind and OmiBob, the song "Watching You Watch Him" by Eric Hutchinson matches the Mickey/Rose/Doctor love triangle TO A TEE! Captain Jack is amazing, just because he's Captain Jack, and no, he is NOT a pirate with the surname of Sparrow. Plus, you don't really know that much about him for a long time and he's immortal and the FACE OF FREAKING BOE! OmiBob, that was a Spoiler. Wasn't supposed to know that, along with River. Heh. Blame Jarrad. He'll give me spoiler's even when I DON'T ask for them!**

**There might be a Doctor Who reference or two in this chapter just to feed my little obsession of the week...**

**So, if you are a fan of the Doctor (that's his name. Well, sort of. His real name is like forty syllables long, too hard to pronounce, and made up of circles) please, please, PLEASE PM me and we can get an amazing Who chat going! I love the Doctor! Seriously, it's like my favorite thing to watch now! Weeeeelllll... I'm trying to finish Lord of the Rings. Weeeeeellllll... I'm trying to start Harry Potter. Weeeeeelllll... I LOVE DISNEY! Yups, that's enough of that, I believe. Wow, that's what, four whole paragraphs devoted to the Doctor? I need to start writing people! I hope I didn't bore you out of your minds with this long, unnecessarily rambly author's note... erm, yeah... I'll just get to the chapter now. And I'm sure that it'll be... fantastic! Aw, loved that line. David Tennant's little tribute to the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston. Tennant's the tenth. Heh. Gotta love that. TENnant? TENth? Okay, okay, fine, I'll get onto the chapter now) before he went off and created his own catchphrase.**

**Allons-y!**

* * *

><p>XIV<p>

Piper

Piper had to admit that Leo had done a good job with the ship.

Right now, they were cruising smoothly over the waves of the Pacific ocean, although Piper suspected that had just as much to do with Percy as Leo. At this speed, they would be in Europe by the next afternoon.

Pretty much everyone was relaxing, saving energy for the fights they knew were inevitable. Jason was playing around with the Monopoly pieces by himself (the game had ended when Leo had managed to set Boardwalk on fire and ended up burning the bank down). Frank was watching some show on T.V. Something about a blue police box and aliens. Piper didn't know what, exactly. Hazel was curled up next to him, sketching on a pad of paper. Tyson was tinkering with scrap metal and little tools from Leo's toolbelt in a corner, Ella perched near him, scratching through books.

Leo had fixed the autopilot button half an hour before and was now slumped over his control panel, snoring, the ship flying by itself. The way he was so at home, amidst all of his levers and buttons, reminded Piper of Festus.

Percy and Annabeth had been talking on the opposite side of the room. Piper had caught some whispered words and secretive smiles and knew they were catching up on what had gone on in their lives the past eight months. Now, Annabeth was tapping away on her laptop. Percy had his head in her lap, asleep. Annabeth looked up and caught Piper's eye. She grinned and ruffled her boyfriend's hair before going back to work.

Piper went and sat down by Jason. He looked up at her, then back at his hands.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey yourself," Piper replied. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"

Jason wouldn't meet her eyes. "Nothing's going on."

"Uh huh. Jason Grace, don't you lie to me."

"Okay, fine, Percy and Leo are asleep, Annabeth and Ella are reading, Hazel's drawing-"

Piper hit him. "I know that, you _vlacas_!"

Jason continued. "Tyson is making something that looks suspiciously like jewelry, we're talking, the ship is flying, and Frank is watching Doctor Who, which, by the way, is a fantastic show."

"You watch it?"

Jason nodded, a smile appearing on his face. "It's something normal."

"Normal?"

He nodded again.

"The show involves a flying box, aliens, and a guy who call himself Doctor Who. How normal can it be?"

"He doesn't call himself Doctor Who, he calls himself the Doctor."

"Same difference, Sparky. Shut up."

Jason rolled his eyes and yawned. "What time is it?"

"Um... ten-ish, I think. Why?"

Jason stood up and pulled Piper to her feet. "Because I want to show you something."

* * *

><p>Piper stood on the deck of the Argo II, shivering in the night wind. Jason was flying somewhere above her, checking out the sights.<p>

Piper brushed her hair out of her face for the billionth time, hugging herself and glancing around the ship. She heard a thump behind her and whirled around.

Jason had returned to the deck. He grabbed some ropes. "Come on. We have to climb."

Piper grabbed the one he handed to her. "Race you."

They started climbing up the mast, up to the crow's nest. Leo had put it in for some odd reason. Jason had spent a lot of time up there on the way to Camp Jupiter, so Piper suspected that was the reason.

Jason beat her to the top and held out his hand to help her over.

"Not fair," Piper protested. "You were flying half of the way up."

Jason laughed. "So? I can't be beaten by a daughter of Aphrodite. It would ruin my reputation."

Piper punched him. "Wanna say that again, Sparky?"

Jason grinned. "No ma'am. You'll probably charmspeak me into walking of the mast or something."

"You've got that right," Piper told him. She looked around the crow's nest. "Why are we up here again?"

"Because," Jason said. "In about fifteen seconds, you are going to see something cool. Right over there." He pointed to the west.

Piper squinted at the horizon. Suddenly, light blossomed into view, pink, purple, blue, red, orange, color swirling together, creating a picture in the sky.

She gasped. "What's that?"

"I don't really know," Jason admitted. "I couldn't sleep one night about two weeks after our quest. I went outside and saw this. Ever since, it's come randomly at ten-thirty once or twice a month. I did some work, got some help from the Athena cabin and figured out that it would appear again tonight." He suddenly turned back to the light show. "Oh, get ready. This is cool."

Piper followed his gaze. Suddenly, inky blackness flooded over the color, putting it out like a light. Jason smiled and put an arm around Piper's shoulders. "That's it."

Piper smiled back at him. "That was beautiful."

She and Jason turned around to go back down the mast and into the ship. Suddenly, the wind picked up, whipping Piper's hair around her face like a tornado.

"What the-" Jason was cut off as the wind threw them off of their feet.

Piper landed hard on the wood of the mast. The wind was so strong, not letting them get back up. She could feel Jason trying hard to control it.

"Jason..." Piper said, but was cut off as the sky lit up.

A glowing white light, brighter than the sun, came from the direction the lights had been in, blinding Piper. Slowly, it formed a shape. A skull, swords crossed underneath it. Then there was the Moon, and intricate maze, the Empire State building, a pegasus, some skeletons, and lastly, a bunch of brightly glittering jewels.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the light shut off. The wind died down abruptly.

Piper turned to stare at Jason. "What was that?"

His eyes were wide. "I... I don't know. I've never seen that before."

The two looked at each other for a second, before hurrying to climb down the mast and return belowdecks, to their friends and safety.

* * *

><p>Piper and Jason re-entered the control room, breathing hard. Hazel looked up from the couch.<p>

"Whoa," she said when she saw them. "What happened to you two?"

Leo muttered something about making out in his sleep. Hazel looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Lights... wind... skull..." Jason panted.

Annabeth looked up from her book. "What?" She made a move, trying to get up, and Percy's head hit the floor with a _thunk_! Annabeth winced, then shrugged. "Seaweed Brain's a bonehead. He's fine." She looked at Jason and Piper sharply. "What was this about strange lights?"

Piper explained about Jason seeing the lights since December and bringing her to see them tonight and the strange bright white light. Annabeth looked like she was thinking hard when Piper finished.

"Jason, are these lights in any sort of order?" she asked.

"No, they just show up. I've been watching out of my cabin window every night until eleven to see if they show. Only some random times, but I figured that they'd come tonight. And I was right," Jason said. "Why?"

"I have a couple of ideas," Annabeth muttered. "Can you recall the dates, Jason?

He nodded. "The first of January, the third and the eighteenth of February, the fifteenth and sixteenth of March, the fifteenth of April, the twelfth of May, the ninth and the nineteenth of June, plus today. Today's was different though. Usually, the lights go for about half an hour. Today they went for about five minutes, then the weird shapes started appearing. Is this significant?"

Annabeth nodded slightly, then hurried over to her laptop, bumping the control panel as she did.

Leo awoke with a snort. "I'm innocent! Oh... hi, guys." He yawned, stretched and looked around the room, stopping when his eyes fell onto the T.V. "Sweet! Doctor Who! I love this show! Sonic Screwdrivers and T.A.R.D.I.S all the way! Geronimo!" He bounded over to the couch. Hazel quickly vacated the spot and Leo and Frank started babbling about their favorite episodes and whatnot. Piper didn't really know, didn't really care.

"I didn't peg Leo as a Whovian," Hazel whispered to Piper and Jason. "Nerd alert."

Annabeth interrupted their laughter. "Hey, guys, come here." She waved them over and they all crowded around her laptop. "If I'm right-and I usually am- I think that these lights are sending a message."

"How?" Jason asked.

"Look," Annabeth said. "I typed the dates that you saw the lights on." She turned the computer screen towards them. It read:

1 3 18 15 16 15 12 9 19 27

"A bunch of numbers," Jason said. "So what?"

"Just wait," Annabeth muttered. "If you assigned each of the numbers a letter of the alphabet, like this:

1= A2= B3= C4= D5= E 6= F7= G 8= H9= I 10= J 11= K 12= L 13= M

14= N 15= O 16= P 17= Q 18= R 19= S 20= T 21= U 22= V 23= W 24= X 25= Y 26= Z

"Okay..." Hazel said, studying the code.

"So you give each of the dates a letter..." Annabeth quickly typed something into the computer. She smiled and turned the screen back towards the others. It now read:

27

"Acropolis 27?" Jason said. "What's that? Some kind of space ship?"

Annabeth shook her head. "You said the lights were different tonight, right? Well, I'm thinking that since there IS no twenty-seventh letter of the alphabet, it was meant as a period. So the word is acropolis. Now the question is why." She paused. "What were the images you saw again?"

As Jason recited them, Annabeth typed them up:

Skull and Swords The Moon A Maze The Empire State Building Pegasus Skeletons Jewels

"So..." Annabeth pondered. "What do these all have in common?"

"Waffles," Percy muttered from the ground.

That cracked everyone up.

"Um, no, Percy." Annabeth patted her boyfriends on the head. "I'm pretty sure that skulls, swords, the Moon, mazes, the Empire State Building, Pegasi, Skeletons, and Jewels have nothing in common with waffles."

"When's breakfast?" Jason asked. When Piper slapped him gently, he muttered, "Sorry. I'm kinda hungry."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She started typing furiously on her laptop, muttering, her eyes flying back and forth.

Piper, Hazel, and Jason waited for almost five minutes before Annabeth finally blew her bangs up in frustration.

"I've searched the internet, but I can't find any possible relations between the items. All I know is that the Empire State Building is where Olympus is and a pegasus is Camp Half-Blood's symbol. That's about it. But I think that the message was sent by a demigod or a god, either trying to help us or..." She paused. "Trying to trap us."

Hazel nodded. "Isn't the Moon the symbol of Diana? Er, I mean, Artemis?"

Annabeth nodded. "So, we've got Olympus, Artemis, and Camp Half-Blood." She groaned in exasperation. "That could mean anything!"

Frank wandered over to them. "What are you guys doing?"

"Trying to see what those things have in common," Hazel told him.

Frank stared at the computer. "Um, jewels... jewels like... like your... um, gift? Hazel?"

Hazel stared at the word. "Yeah, I guess. It could be?" She turned to Frank. "Why aren't you watching T.V. anymore?"

Frank shuddered. "Leo got all hyped up about the Doctor blowing up his Sonic Screwdriver. He started freaking out and digging through his tool belt and spreading bits and pieces around the room. I think he's trying to build a new one."

"A new sonic _screwdriver_?" Jason asked.

Frank nodded.

"Now I've heard everything," Piper muttered.

"Greece," Percy mumbled. "Giants, Gaia, Hades, Death." He suddenly sat bolt upright. "Help!"

Annabeth grabbed his arm. "Percy, what's wrong?"

Percy continued staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocused, murmuring under his breath.

"Is he even awake?" Frank asked.

Annabeth shook Percy's arm. "Percy, wake up. Wake up!"

Percy blinked. "I'm awake Mom!"

Everyone cracked up.

Annabeth stared at her boyfriend. "What's wrong with you?"

Percy shook his head, like he was trying to clear his head. "Um... nothing. Just a bad dream." He looked at the others. "What are you guys up to?"

"We're trying to figure out what this means."

"Acropolis?" Percy asked. "Isn't that the ancient citadel at Athens, containing the Parthenon and other notable buildings, mostly dating from the 5th century B.C?"

"Yes," Annabeth stared at Percy like he had dropped from space. "Since when do you know dictionary definitions?"

Percy shrugged. "Creepy owl burned on my arm. Magic language translations. Hera put me in a dungeon. Oh gods. I sound like Ella. Psychotic future books. Help."

"Are you feeling okay?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know," Percy muttered. "There's all this information running through my head and I can't keep it straight. I'm doing algebra in my head without blowing a bunch of brain cells. I'm figuring out a bunch of stuff and it's driving me nuts. And worst of all," He stopped and bit his lip. "I actually feel like _reading_!"

Annabeth laughed and shook her head. "I don't know about the first part, but the second part definitely sounds like you."

Percy looked at everyone else. "Ignore me. Let's figure out whatever we're figuring out."

"Okay, so the Acropolis and-" Jason was interrupted by a shout from across the room.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Leo screamed, jumping up on the couch. Everyone's heads swiveled towards him.

"You figured out the puzzle?" Annabeth exclaimed excitedly.

Leo looked confused. "What puzzle?" He held up a small object. "I meant I've now got a sonic screwdriver! Woo Hoo!" He jumped off of the couch and started running around the room, trying to lock and unlock doors.

"Okaaaayyy..." Piper said. "Leo is obviously not going to be helpful."

The rest of them murmured in agreement.

Suddenly, Percy grabbed the computer and turned it towards him. "Wait a minute..." He read through the list. "Oh my gods!" He jumped up, the laptop making a dive for the floor. Annabeth shrieked and caught it before it hit the floor.

"I hope that lightbulb was important Percy. Because you almost destroyed my laptop." She glared at him.

"It was, it was, promise!" Percy shouted. "I know what those symbols mean! And I know that it's a message! And I know who sent it!"

* * *

><p><strong>DUN DUN DUN!<strong>

**And that is the end! **

**Percy is growing smart! Leo is obsessed with Doctor Who! And someone is sending a message through the sky!**

**NEW CONTEST! Whoever can guess who sent the message wins a special mention next chapter! Let's see who can do it!**

**Okay, so, I hope that chapter was good enough for you guys to make up for the month and a half I've missed. I'm really sorry to everyone, but it was pretty much worth it! : D**

**SMILES FOR YOU ALL!**

**Just finished the third Lord of the Rings movie. Sam's The Most Amazing Line Of All Time made me start bawling, you know, when they're on Mount Doom and Sam talks about the Shire and Frodo is all like, I don't remember and then freaks out because he can see the eye and Sam says:**

**"Then let's be rid of it once and for all! Come on, Mr. Frodo! I can't carry it for you... but I can carry you!"**

**Yes, so, I freaked out and started sobbing. SAM RULES!**

**Just saying.**

**Okay, this is kind of confusing me. The ONLY PERSON who got the quiz question of the last update right was BluelikesPink. THE ONLY PERSON GUYS! So she gets a huge shout out and this chapter was dedicated to her (You are a girl, right? Sorry, I forgot to ask. If you are not, than just ignore the female pronouns). So I will repeat the question, and all of you must pay homage to BluelikesPink. Go read her stories or whatever. So, the quiz question of the update is (and I will put this in Caps):**

**WHAT DOES BESSIE'S FULL GREEK NAME MEAN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH!**

**Seriously, this one isn't that hard. SO ANSWER IT! NOW!**

**I will finish my long random disclaimer next time, because I gave you two really long author's notes which you don't really need, so... BYA!**

**Disclaimer: **

**Dionysus: She doesn't own PJO. Blah blah blah.**

**Doctor Who: *In a British Accent* And she doesn't own me or sonic screwdrivers or the T.A.R.D.I.S!**

**Harry Potter: *In a British Accent* And she doesn't own Harry Potter!**

**Me: Who said anything about Harry Potter?  
><strong>

**Harry: *In a British Accent* ME!**

**Piper: YOU HAVE BEEN CHARMTYPED! REVIEW! AND DON'T FORGET THE QUESTION! AND SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHO SENT THE MESSAGE! DO IT! NOW!**

**Leo: All flames belong to me! SONIC SCREWDRIVER ACTIVATE!**

**Doctor Who: *In a British Accent* Now where did my sonic screwdriver get off to...?**

**Leo: Oh snap. FLAME ON! *Bursts into flame and runs offstage.***

**Doctor Who: *In a British Accent* Fantastic! I must go catch that small funny boy who pilfered my sonic screwdriver! And you must review! As my tenth generation says...**

**ALLONS-Y!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello, peeps! I have updated again!**

**Okay, I really have nothing much to say up here, so let's just get to the story.**

**Quiz Question of the Update Answer: Cow Serpent. The Greek name was Ophiotaurus. Yups. Great job everybody!**

**ALLONS-Y!**

* * *

><p>XV<p>

Percy

Percy had never been so sure of anything in his entire life.

Even though everyone was staring at him like he was nuts, he was practically positive that he had finally done something right, without going in with basically no idea of what he was going to do... so, this was a first for him.

"Who sent the message then, Percy?" Annabeth asked him disbelievingly.

Percy was so excited he didn't notice his girlfriend's tone. "The person who sent the message is-"

* * *

><p>*RECORD SCRATCH*<p>

**Wait, wait, wait. Percy, you obtuse child! You can't just tell them straight off! You Seaweed Brain! If you just told them, then this chapter would be over! So it looks like, as always, I'm going to have to fix everything and go back and give these wonderful readers an actually good chapter!**

"But-"

**Shut up, Percy.**

"Hmmph."

**So... let's rewind, shall we?**

WARNING: REWINDING OF STORY MIGHT CAUSE CHARACTERS SLIGHT NAUSEA AND CONFUSE READERS! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!

* * *

><p>"-si egassem eht tnes ohw nosrep ehT" .enot s'dneirflrig sih eciton t'ndid eh deticxe os ycerP<p>

.ylgniveilebsid mih deksa htebannA "?ycreP, neht egassem eht tnes ohW"

.mih rof tsrif a saw siht, os ...od ot gniog saw eh tahw fo aedi on yllacisab htiw ni gniog tuohtiw ,thgir gnihtemos enod yllanif dah eh taht evitisop yllacitcarp saw eh ,stun saw eh ekil mih ta gnirats saw enoyreve hguoht nevE

.efil eritne sih ni gnihtyna fo erus os neeb reven dah ycreP

ycreP

VX

* * *

><p><strong>And now we're back to the beginning of the chapter. <strong>

"Bleh."

**Sorry. But there was no other choice, was there?**

*Glare*

**I really don't think this is as far back as we should have gone... so... back to the beginning of the last chapter? Actually, we need to go way, way, back... to a time Percy would like to call...**

"Earlier that same night."

**Let's go back, shall we? To that fateful time when... Percy fell asleep. So we don't have to go through that whole rewinding process again, I think we should travel by the table of contents! Let's see... Aha! Between chapters fourteen and fifteen! Here we go!**

* * *

><p>Percy was having a nice night, considering they were sailing off to their doom.<p>

There was the amazing Monopoly game, the snacks, and then just relaxing and talking with Annabeth. Unfortunately, Percy was getting tired by the time she was describing her fifth building. He figured it wouldn't kill him to take a little nap... just for a while...

Zzzzzzzzzzz.

* * *

><p>"Percy! Get up! Seriously!" Someone was slapping Percy.<p>

"Huh?" Percy blinked awake... oh, wait, he was dreaming _again_. Just great.

"Percy!"

"What do you want this time, Hera?" Percy mumbled, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Hera? Percy, it's me!"

"Grover? Look, I just saw you. Can't this wait?"

"PERCY YOU IDIOT! OPEN YOUR EYES, GROW A BRAIN, AND USE IT!"

Only one person Percy knew could lose his temper like that...

Percy opened his eyes and saw Nico di Angelo swimming blearily in front of his eyes.

Percy yawned. "Hi, Nico." Then he did a double- take. "Nico?"

"Yeah, hi to you too." The son of Hades looked around nervously. "Look, I don't have much time. They moved me. I'm not in Rome anymore. They're trying to fool you, trick you to coming there so they can attack Greece. I'm in Greece, but I can't tell you exactly where I am. Sorry. I've been sending messages to Jason, telling him where. Hopefully you guys can figure them out."

"Uh huh," Percy said. "So... what's up?"

"What's up? Percy, I've been captured by the earth mother! I found the Doors of Death, but they got me there and I couldn't close them! I haven't had any meat in days and my usefulness is running out. You've got to get me out of here, Perce! Only one type of demigod can find the Doors of Death and that's one whose already seen them! I got help from a legionaire in Italy who had been there and he showed me... but then... well, let's just say that Cyclops don't eat nicely."

"Wait... you found the Doors?" Percy said.

"That's what I just said!" Nico glanced around his prison cell again. It was mostly light in there, to prevent shadow traveling, with a small patch of darkness in one corner. "Look, Gaea is planning something. She's been biding her time. If she let's too many monsters out at one time, or some really powerful baddies, the Doors will definitely be found. Too much energy let's out a signal, kind of like you. She's been waiting and she's almost ready. Percy..." Nico swallowed hard, and Percy saw a flicker of fear cross his face. "You can't win this one. Trust me. Not by yourself. There is going to be loss, I can feel it. You somehow need to convince the gods to help. The fight is coming, and when it does... it's not going to be easy. These aren't the Titans, Percy. We're way outmatched. We're on the losing side, and if something doesn't change, Olympus is going to fall."

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Sunshine."

"Believe me, I don't want to be the voice of doom and destruction, but I'm the closest to Gaea. I can maybe buy you some time, but you've got to hurry, Percy. Jason should know where I am, by now... hold on a moment..." Nico stepped over to the patch of shadow. He stuck his hand in and closed his eyes as it disappeared, shadow traveling. Percy didn't know if it hurt to have your hand shadow travel away from your body, but he didn't really want to find out.

Five minutes later, Nico pulled his fist out of the shadow and slumped to the floor. Percy rushed to his side.

"I'm fine." Nico yawned. "That just takes a lot out of me and I've done it too much lately. I'm going to black out soon, and you're going to wake up, but remember what I told you a while ago: shadows are all part of the same substance, darkness, and they don't change. If you can manipulate the shadows enough..." Nico muttered something and shook his head. "No, sorry. Different mythology. Just... your shadow stays the same, and so does darkness. The shadow is a part of you and everything has a shadow. If the shadow is destroyed, you can be wiped from existence. Unfortunately, that won't work on Gaea, because... it doesn't matter right now. To do something like that would take an incredible amount of magic, which is something we don't have. But if you can work the shadows the right way, you can travel anywhere. Literally anywhere. Remember that. Tell Hazel. She can figure it out." Nico blinked slowly.

"Nico, wait! Where are you!"

"Wake up, Percy. You'll find out. And, um, sorry about this, but you might have two empathy links now..." Nico trailed off sheepishly.

"What?"

"You're waking up, Percy. Go tell the others. And hurry, Percy. Hurry." The son of Hades eyes shut as Percy shot back up and out of sleep.

* * *

><p>"Help!" Percy said. Everyone turned and stared at him.<p>

"Um... Percy?"

"Sorry."

Percy watched in a daze, thinking about his dream, as the others struggled to figure out the puzzle. Suddenly, seeing the objects, something clicked.

He grabbed Annabeth's laptop. "Oh my gods!" Percy jumped up and started to do a miniature version of his happy dance. Everyone was staring again.

"Sorry," Percy mumbled.

Percy had never been so sure of anything in his entire life.

Even though everyone was staring at him like he was nuts, he was practically positive that he had finally done something right, without going in with basically no idea of what he was going to do... so, this was a first for him.

"Who sent the message then, Percy?" Annabeth asked him disbelievingly.

Percy was so excited he didn't notice his girlfriend's tone. "The person who sent the message is-" Percy stopped, partly because he was getting a rather overwhelming sense of deja vu and partly to give that crazy author a chance NOT to jump out and interrupt him. When nothing happened, Percy said in triumph, "Nico!"

"Nico?" Annabeth said suspiciously.

"Yes!" Percy exclaimed. "He's been sending the message, telling us where he is captured!"

"Um, Percy, Nico hasn't been captured since January," Frank pointed out. "How could the messages have started then?"

Percy stopped, puzzled. "Oh, yeah."

Annabeth took a look at the objects. "It does kind of make sense. The skull and swords can symbol Hades, the Moon could be referring to Bianca, the maze could be the Labyrinth, the Empire State Building is Olympus, the pegasus is Camp Half-Blood, skeletons are Nico's special talent and the jewels could symbolize Hades or Hazel. But it still doesn't connect with the time frame."

"Maybe Nico somehow knew that he would be captured...?" Jason suggested.

Percy suddenly snapped his fingers. "Nico said something about shadows. How they are all the same substance and if you manipulate them right, you can go literally anywhere." He turned to Hazel. "He said you'd know what that meant."

Hazel looked pale. "I... well, sort of. Yes. Something Nico talked to me about... but it was dangerous. Very dangerous. He didn't know if it could be done, but I think he's figured it out."

"Wait, what?" Jason said. Everyone else murmured in agreement.

"Shipmates," Percy said. "I believe our dear friend Nico has discovered the secret of time travel."

* * *

><p><strong>Well then.<strong>

**NICO, YOU CLEVER BOY! MWA HA HA HA! I LOVE CLIFFHANGERS!**

**Sorry, guys, but I had to do that. Notice how much faster I updated, though. Aren't you proud of me? ^.^**

**Anyway, the people who guessed that the message sender was Nico are these: Percyjackson3, SugarlsHEALTHY and Kaitie85386! Great job, guys! If I missed you and you said that, sorry, please flame and tell me that. XP But a lot of you other guys had great ideas as well! So... yups.**

**QUIZ QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: (I'm not feeling very creative...) Um, what is Festus in Latin means what?**

**Disclaimer:**

**Travis and Connor: *Typing* And so the two brave Stoll brothers saved the world again and the Mark of Athena was saved and the Giants were defeated, along with Gaea and Travis and Connor became the most loved characters in the history of PJO. The End.**

**Travis: Great story!**

**Connor: Couldn't have said it better myself. **

**Rick Riordan: *Sneaking up behind with a net and bazooka* YOU ARE MINE! MINE! *Sweeps laptop into the net.* And now, you treacherous little devils of my characters... *Hefts bazooka and grins threateningly.***

**Travis and Connor: #^#$&#!**

**Bazooka: KA-BOOM!**

**Tombstone: R.I.P. Travis and Connor Stoll. Two idiotic demigods who didn't know that stealing Rick Riordan's laptop caused a worse fate than an army of monsters. **

**Percy: Well, we're off strike, mostly cause this crazy fanfiction author tied us to chairs and threatened us with a machete that she borrowed from her Chorus teacher (seriously! My chorus teacher actually owns a machete that she keeps in her office and threatens the boys with. She's awesome) and because Rick threatened us with his bazooka. Plus, we got bored.**

**Leo: Mmmmbph mpffff mmm.**

**Me: And Leo stopped singing because I put duct tape over his mouth! So... yeah. Actually, I had no ideas of how to end this disclaimer epically, so I just decided to through this in. So, until next time...**

**EAT DIRT, RUN WITH SCISSORS AND SCREAM AT A WALL!**

**Oh, and review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Sup, guys?**

**So... anyway, I'm super uber sorry about not updating in a LONG time. I seriously had no inspiration for either of my stories... but with a lot of drawing, PMs and chocolate, I got off my butt and wrote this. I don't know if it's that great, but I seriously needed something after that major cliffhanger... it's hard to write something good after those. So... here is pretty much a filler chapter, but enjoy anyway!**

**Oh, BTW, you guys should go check out my FictionPress and DeviantArt account. My username on FictionPress is still PeaceLoveAndCheese, but on DeviantArt I'm GingerWriter. If you go and see me and comment and review, I'll review and comment you back, kay? GO MY MINIONS! GO! Oh, yeah, self advertising for the win!**

**ANSWER TO THE QUIZ QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: Festus. That one really WAS easy.**

* * *

><p>XVI<p>

Jason

"TIME TRAVEL?"

Well, that was the general reaction from just about everyone, except for Percy, Hazel, and Leo, since Percy and Hazel already knew and Leo was too busy playing around with his sonic screwdriver.

Annabeth, for once, seemed at a loss for words. "But... I... I mean... what..._ how_?"

Percy suddenly looked cheesed. "I don't know, but on top of not telling me who I was when I saw him at the Roman camp, he didn't let me go back and tell you what was going to happen, the little _blennus_. If he's not already killed by the time we get to Gaea, I swear I'm going to murder him."

"Now, now, Percy, let's not get violent," Frank muttered. "After all, we're going all the way to Greece to get him."

Piper stared at him. "Please tell me the ultra-contagious Leo Disease hasn't spread to you too."

"Me _too_? Who else has it?"

Piper considered that. "Well, Leo seems to have an terrible affect on his eight-year-old half-brother... and then there was that one time when he and Jason were working on the engine and getting high on the gas fumes... and the other time when Dionysus slipped wine into a cabin's heads meeting... oh, and that time when Leo and Jason had that bright idea to play truth or dare... AND on Tuesday, when Jason and Leo were working on the engine again... and the day before we left..." Piper turned to look at Jason suspiciously. "... when you went back down to the engine room AGAIN. What exactly have you been doing down there?"

Jason gulped. "Um... working on the engine?"

"Yeah, I might have believed that the first two times, but now..."

Leo cut in, while examining his screwdriver for kinks. "Oh, that's where I keep my supply of Sour Skittles..." He glanced up and paled at Piper's glare. "I shouldn't have said that."

Percy looked delighted. "Sour Skittles? Where?"

Annabeth grabbed his arm in case he decided to do something incredibly stupid that he would regret. "No way, Seaweed Brain."

"Annabeth, come on!"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"An-NA-beth!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Yeah, why not?" Frank asked curiously.

Annabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Because last time we let Percy have Sour Skittles, he ended up getting so hyper it wasn't funny, flooding my cabin and kissing a dryad in the forest. We had to chain him to a tree until he calmed down..." Annabeth paused thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, we probably should have taken his sword away, because five seconds later he had cut through his bonds and was running around, bonking into trees and screaming something about unicorns and Voldemort and how drinking their blood makes you a carrot."

Frank looked at Percy and grinned. "Seriously?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know, the only part of that I remember was how delicious the Skittles were... that and when I woke up in a tree the next day and freaked out."

"What happened."

"Um... I fell out of the tree and ended up in the infirmary for two days."

"And that," Annabeth concluded, "Is why Percy is not allowed to eat Sour Skittles."

"How many did he have?" Jason asked.

"Um, let's see..." Annabeth did some calculations in her head. "One and a half."

"ONE AND A HALF?"

"Yes."

"Um..." Leo raised his hand, getting into the subject. "What happened to the other half?"

"Oh, Percy tried to get it to mate with a normal Skittle to see if they'd make a half-blood Skittle."

Jason, Frank, Leo, Hazel, and Piper just stared at Percy.

"What?" he said.

"A demigod Skittle," Jason repeated.

"That is just..." Hazel trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence.

"AWESOME!" Leo screamed at the top of his lungs, thrilled like he'd just discovered _FIRE... _which was ironic, since he was a fire user. "HOW COME I'VE NEVER TRIED THAT?"

"I know, right!" Percy high-fived him.

"Hey..." Leo looked deep in thought. "I wonder if we can create some more demigod candy..."

Percy looked enthralled with the idea, but before he could say anything, Annabeth cut them both off.

"NO! WE ARE NOT MAKING HALF-BLOOD CANDY! WE ARE ON A TIME-SENSITIVE MISSION AND I WON'T HAVE YOU MESSING IT UP BECAUSE YOU ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH SUGAR, WHICH IS A REALLY BAD IDEA FOR TEENAGERS AS ADHD AS YOU TWO ARE!"

"Geez, Annabeth, there's no need to get so worked up," Percy mumbled. "We were only joking."

"Probably..." Leo said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Whatever, guys."

Jason decided it was time to change the subject entirely. "So... if Nico can time travel, how come he hasn't gotten out of his prison?"

"Time travel?" Leo looked shocked. "Does he have a blue box and a hot girlfriend?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, then, it can't be all that great." And Leo wandered off to go fiddle with his ship's controls.

"Well, I think it's because there isn't really any shadows in his prison," Percy offered. "I mean, he can only time travel using shadows and Gaea wouldn't let any in. Except a fist sized one, which is how he communicated with you."

"Ah."

"Okay, this isn't what we need to worry about, guys," Annabeth muttered. "Let's not worry about Nico and time traveling and all that until we find him."

"That might be sooner than you think!" Leo yelled. "Prepare for a bump in T minus 3... 2... 1..."

The boat lurched, throwing the demigods all around. Jason instinctively took to the air, but everyone else landed in a heap on the floor, groaning.

"Leo, what _was_ that?" Percy moaned.

Leo stood up from the ground, brushing himself off. "That, my friends, was Uncle Leo masterfully bringing you into port." He grinned. "Beauty Queen's gonna like this. Welcome to France, guys."

"_FRANCE?_"

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it. Don't worry, it'll get a lot more action packed after this.<strong>

**Oh, and BTW: I only really make my author's notes long when I have something to say... and I always have something to say. You know you don't have to read them, don't you? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I'm feeling really uncreative right now since I just finished writing an epic rap battle between Percy, Jason, Harry Potter, and Doctor Who, so you can come up with the rest, can't you? XD**

**Quiz Question of the Update: What is Nico's fatal flaw? **

**Okay, bye!**

**Allons-y!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sup guys?**

**SORRY SORRY SORRY! I know I said this was going to be updated LAST week, but our internet crashed. So I haven't been able to post or PM. SORRY ABOUT THAT! We just got it fixed today. So feel free to chase me with pitchforks or something.**

**Quiz Question of the Update: What was it again? Something about fatal flaws? Oh yeah. That's what gave me the idea for THIS chapter. So... Nico's fatal flaw was holding grudges... if that wasn't the question, sorry, I'm too lazy to look it up. But I'm pretty sure that's what it was... just read the chapter already.**

* * *

><p>XVII<p>

Leo

Yeah... so... Leo had touched down in France instead of Greece or Rome or wherever they were headed. But seriously, his friends didn't have to look at him like that... he was just... calibrating... and um, thinking about... no, Leo knew _exactly _what he was doing.

Of course, that being said, they had to land in a field where a bunch of naked Frenchmen were holding some kind of random cult/sacrifice thing and chase the naked Frenchmen off, who were screaming something about devil children and joyriding in dump trucks, according to Piper.

Mortals are seriously messed up.

Anyway, with nothing better to do and food rations being extremely low-except for the dozen jars of peanut butter that Ella and Tyson were guarding with their lives-and Annabeth blabbing on and on about famous buildings ("Oh, there's the Arch de Triomphe! And Notre Dame!"), they decided to arm themselves and go into town, probably freak some more mortals out and hopefully get some of those chocolate pastry things for breakfast. And most likely blow something up along the way.

_Blow something up_. Ha. In France, that was the least of their worries.

You know what the worst idea in the demigod world is? Splitting up.

So, of course that's the first thing that they did.

Annabeth dragged Percy off to go look at some building somewhere. Piper and Hazel decided to go window shopping. Frank and Jason went looking for some food. and Leo was left alone in the middle of the street with his tool belt and the keys to the Argo II, because he trusted no one else with them. Yes, Leo locked up the ship after leaving it. It had a state-of-the-art security system that NO ONE could hack... which really didn't explain how Octavian had gotten on board. Oh well, Leo would worry about that later.

Leo decided to go look around some mechanic shops to see if he could find extra bits and bobs that would make the Argo II even more awesome than it originally was. Unfortunately, all he could manage to find was a fat greasy old guy oiling a moped in his garage who screamed at Leo in French, which of course Leo couldn't understand, but he decided to leave the old guy alone anyway.

And that's how Leo ended up wandering around the French countryside without any real idea of how he had gotten there. He figured it had something to do with the free bike he had found in a trash pile and tried to take apart. The stupid thing was so rusted he couldn't get anything useful out of it, though, and rode it around for a while before the tires fell off. By then he was at least three miles out of town. Curse the ADHD.

Leo kicked the scrap pile that had recently been a bike and started back into town. He didn't get far, however, before his dad decided to pay him a visit.

Leo watched the old guy he had seen putt up the road on his moped. He was going super slow and since the road was barely big enough for one person and since Leo had seen what that guy could do with an oil can when angry, he decided to step over to the side of the road and let the old guy pass.

But, unfortunately, the old guy didn't. He parked his moped right in front of Leo and stayed there, jabbering in rapid French.

"Um..." Leo said. "Sorry, I'm kind of in a hurry and I don't speak French, so..."

The old guy grunted in annoyance and switched into another language. "Sorry, boy. I've been waiting for you here for days. Old habit now."

Leo glanced closer at him. "Dad?"

The old guy smiled, which wasn't the prettiest sight. "Sup?"

Leo shook his head. "No, don't... don't even try to be cool. It won't work."

His dad looked at him in annoyance. "Fine." He cleared his throat. "Even though this is against the rules and Zeus will probably have my hide for it, you should be grateful-"

Leo held up his hand to stop him. "Just cut to the chase, please. I really should get back to my friends."

The old guy nodded. "That's probably smart, considering that you only have five minutes before they all die."

"WHAT?"

"Just listen. You seven aren't exactly the most well-behaved demigods in history. Why, I could name at least fifty of my kids who haven't done anything more reckless than you have in the past century than you do in ten minutes. So, before you do something stupid and everyone ends up getting killed, I figured I'd warn you."

"Thanks. Can I go save my friends now?"

"Yes, yes, one moment," Hephaestus said. "You have to face this monster yourself, Leo. You need to."

"Um, why? I have a bunch of super-powerful demigods on my side. I think I can get a little help."

"If you don't do it yourself, it will be too late, boy!" the god roared. His beard burst into flames.

"What do you mean by 'too late?'" Leo asked, ducking away from the fire. He'd prefer NOT smelling like a barbecue before fighting stuff.

"You know," the god said quietly. Leo gulped.

"Okay, fine. And so, what happens if I succeed?"

"I don't know," Hephaestus waved the question away. "Maybe you guys can get lunch? Zeus knows." His expression grew serious. "Just know this, boy. Every hero has a fatal flaw."

"Yeah, I know that. Hera gave me this long speech about Percy and Annabeth and their flaws." Leo still didn't know where this conversation was going.

Hephaestus nodded. "Pride and loyalty. Not exactly the best mix, but it'll work out. Probably. Anyway, boy, your flaw is less common than others." He held up his hands as Leo opened his mouth. "I'm not allowed to say what it is, but it is dangerous. Possible more dangerous than any flaw any hero has ever possessed. Very few have it."

"Oh, thanks," Leo muttered. "If I didn't already feel like a freak, I do now."

"But only the bravest can survive it!" Hephaestus insisted, like that was supposed to make it all better. He pawed the handlebars of his moped. "Oh, I'm out of time. You need to go save your friends. Here, take my moped." He handed Leo the keys.

"Thanks, I guess." Leo climbed on the small bike. His dad grinned at him and vanished. Leo sighed, started up the motor, and headed back to his friends.

The town wasn't there when he got back.

* * *

><p><strong>Lame cliffhanger... pretty lame chapter too. Meh, tell me what you guys think.<strong>

**I'm feeling depressed right now. I finished all of the Harry Potter movies (which were AWESOME), my copies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy are at my friends house, Pirates of the Caribbean has lost it's charm (but Orlando Bloom is still hotness), and Doctor Who won't be coming on Netflix for another week or so. So I'm going to Hills Alive. With my sister. I need a life. Desperately.**

**Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan, I would have money, chocolate and movie rights. Since I don't... I don't own PJO.**

**REVIEW!**


	21. Chapter 21

**I'm really sorry, you guys. I've been so dang busy it isn't even funny. School starts in twenty days and I will say that I'm not to pleased about losing my freedom.**

**And... you guys are going to get really mad at me, but this isn't even the climaxing chapter. It's got action and I thought about stopping it a couple times before, but kept going. But now this thing is over seven pages long and I just had to stop it. So... it's got action, but I doubt it's the action you want. NEXT CHAPTER THINGS WILL BE RESOLVED... sort of. Um... yeah. I promise I'll update sooner than I did this time... this weekend, probably. The next chapter is a Frank chapter... I think.**

**Quiz Question of the Update: Wow, I was so distracted last time, I forgot to even do a quiz question. So sue me. **

**Enjoy! I really like this one... MWA HA HA HA!**

* * *

><p>XVIII<p>

Piper

Piper's day was getting progressively worse by the minute.

It hadn't started out bad. When Leo had announced that they had landed in France, Piper immediately felt in her element. She was a natural speaker, and although Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel could speak a little bit of the language, for once Piper wasn't just a pretty face and a sweet voice. Kind of nice, for once.

They all decided to make the most of their little break. Annabeth dragged Percy off to do some sightseeing. Leo wandered off to Zeus knows where. Frank and Jason, being the responsible ship members, went to go restock supplies. Hazel and Piper decided to do some shopping and be normal teenage girls for a while... well, as normal as you could get when you were heavily armed and on constant lookout for threats to your life.

The two of them strolled down the streets. The air was nice and cool for a summer's day. They bought some chocolate eclairs at a small shop in the town square and munched on their breakfast as they window shopped.

It wasn't long before Annabeth and Percy rejoined them, Annabeth looking disappointed. Percy was grinning.

"Bird Brain here didn't realize that we were nowhere near any of those places she was talking about. The best we could find was a water fountain." He leaned in towards Hazel and Piper. "Lucky for me too. When you've been stopped in running for your life to go look at some building it kind of takes the excitement out of it," he whispered, grinning, before stealing the rest of Hazel's pastry and shoving it in his mouth.

"Hey!" Hazel pretended to be angry.

"Sowwy," Percy said with his mouth full. "M hunry."

"When aren't you?" Hazel replied. He shrugged and swallowed the rest of Hazel's breakfast. She watched it go mournfully.

Annabeth was muttering grumpily under her breath, but Percy was smiling away, per usual. "What are you guys doing?"

"Nothing much," Piper said. "Shopping, eating, trying not to die."

"Shopping?" Annabeth looked a little perkier. "What kind of shopping?"

"Eating?" Percy's smile grew even wider. "What is there?"

Hazel laughed. "We're kind of just shopping for whatever catches our fancy."

"My treat," Piper said, holding up a wad of cash. When the others protested, she held up a hand. "Look guys, this is my money. And this might be the last time I can spend it. Besides, girls needs to indulge sometimes. It's fine."

"There's no food left, is there?" Percy asked hopefully.

Annabeth laughed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. I promise you won't die of starvation."

"Hey, you never know!" Percy said as they made their way down the street. "I could suddenly drop dead because you didn't feed me in the last twenty seconds!"

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later, the girls came out of a shop, followed by a very disgruntled Percy, who had just been forced to sit outside a changing room while Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper "indulged."<p>

Surprisingly, Annabeth was really good with clothes. She could tell just by looking whether something would look good on you or not. Piper suspected it was because of her math brain. Hazel was amazing with the colors. Anything she picked out would somehow flatter your skin tone, or complexion, or eyes. And Percy was good at wolf whistling whenever he thought something looked hot. He whistled a lot when Annabeth came out, but even that wasn't very stimulating.

The four of them continued through the town, soon becoming laden with bags. More often than not, one of the three girls would spot something insanely cute and squeal, alerting the others, who would in turn throw their bags at Percy, who was starting to look like a walking mall advertisement.

After about an hour and a half of strolling, squealing, and splurging, Percy collapsed onto a bench, parcels scattering around him.

"I'm exhausted," he muttered. "Can we do something else now?"

Annabeth ignored him, instead going over to another window and peering in. "It's empty... or looks empty," she said, walking over to the door. "But the sign says it's open."

"Well, yippee," Percy grumbled. "Maybe they're selling air. Get over it."

"Percy, it's strange-"

"So strange because there is an abandoned shop and someone put a sign that says 'Open' on it for a prank? You're getting paranoid, Annabeth."

"I am not paranoid! I just think it's weird."

"Yeah, sure, and soon you'll start seeing spiders everywhere."

"Percy... I'm trying really hard not to lose my temper here."

"Why? Because you're afraid that the sign will get scared and switched to 'Closed' because it doesn't want some paranoid murderess coming inside of it?"

"I AM NOT PARANOID!"

Piper and Hazel chose to ignore the bickering pair and instead made a slow lap around the corner. The end of the small street met a river. Piper and Hazel went down to it and sat on the bank, their feet dangling near the water in silence.

Suddenly, Hazel spoke. "Hey, Piper, you know stuff about boys, right?"

"Well, I am the daughter of the Goddess of Love." Piper looked at the younger girl curiously. "Why?"

Hazel sighed. "I'm just... really confused right now." She stopped, glancing over at Piper to see if she was listening. "I like one guy, but then I just met another guy who I might have liked in the past, if it was the same guy and-" She stopped. "It's too confusing. Never mind."

"No, I know exactly what you're talking about," Piper said, slightly enjoying Hazel's look of disbelief. "You like Frank, but you think that Leo might be some guy you liked from your past, but he's supposed to be called Sammy and possibly supposed to be dead."

Hazel's mouth dropped open. "How... how did you... I... um..."

Piper laughed inwardly. "I'd say it was all part of my mystic powers to see into other's love affairs, but actually..." She glanced around and leaned in mysteriously. "...Frank asked me for advice about the same thing."

Hazel managed a small smile. "Oh."

Piper tapped her chin, thinking. "If I had to give you one piece of advice, I'd say... follow your heart. And I know, that sounds really cliche, but you're heart is in the right place, Hazel. And it's going to lead you to the right answer. That probably wasn't really helpful, was it?" she asked, seeing the faint look of disappointment on Hazel's face.

"Not really," Hazel said.

"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to... you know, about this kind of stuff, I'm here, okay?"

Hazel smiled at her. "Okay. Thanks, Piper."

"No problem."

They dwelled in the sunlight silently a little more, before Percy plopped down beside Hazel.

"Hi," he said. His hair was rumpled and he had a red mark on his face, like he had been slapped. "Remind me never to call Annabeth paranoid again."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "I doubt that will stop you."

Percy grinned. "You know me. Always the rebel."

Annabeth appeared by Piper. "What have you guys been up to?"

Hazel and Piper looked at each other. "Nothing."

Percy stood up again and cocked his head. "I think I can hear Jason and Frank calling us. Must be time to leave."

Hazel and Piper got to their feet and turned to leave. They walked down the street before Annabeth's voice stopped them.

"Hey guys," she said, still standing by the river and looking in cautiously. "Why is the water bubbling?"

"What?" Percy raced back the the back, followed by Piper and Hazel, and leaned in too. "What the heck is that?" He knelt at the edge and made to stick his hand in, as if to test the temperature.

And that's when they were attacked by the giant worms.

* * *

><p>Worms are usually not deadly creatures... unless you get frightened to death when you see them. And after the giant worm attack, Piper wasn't sure that she'd ever be able to look at a worm again without shuddering.<p>

As Percy stuck his hand in, the water suddenly erupted into a blast of white foam, throwing them all backwards and fogging up their vision. Piper could hear Percy yelling and Annabeth calling back to him, but their words were mashed together in a whirl of sound, making it impossible for Piper to tell what they were saying.

As fast as the water came spurting up, it suddenly cleared, rushing back into a wall of water in front of the river, blocking whatever had attacked. Piper brushed her sopping hair back from her face.

They were all completely soaked, except for Percy. He was holding up one hand, keeping the water back. His other arm was cradled to his chest, bleeding from a wound in his forearm.

"What the Hades was that?" Hazel asked shakily, getting to her feet.

Annabeth looked shocked. "I have no clue. Percy?"

Percy was sifting the water around, trying to find something. "There's something in here guys... I'm not sure what it is. All I saw was that it was large... and white... and WHAT THE HADES IS THAT?"

At that moment, something large and white flew from Percy's water wall and launched itself at him. Percy ducked and the thing flew over his head, landing in the sopping grass behind them.

They all whirled around. Lying on the grass was an large, blobby, enormously fat white worm.

"We're being attacked by a WORM?" Percy said. "I'm not sure whether to laugh or be insulted."

"Percy, that's an Indos Worm!" Annabeth told him. "They're carnivorous. And it should be living in the River Indos. That's in India."

"Well, obviously it migrated," Percy grumbled. The worm started wriggling towards them. "Did you say it was carnivorous."

"Yes," Annabeth said, eyeing his bleeding arm. "That's what bit you."

"Yeah, kind of figured that," Percy muttered, trying to keep his eyes both on his wall of water and on the worm that was slowly coming towards them.

"Well, why don't we just run away. It's not moving that fast anyway," Piper suggested.

"Yeah, about that..." Percy said. "To do that I'll have to drop the barricade and I'm pretty sure there are some more worms inside of it. They'll all come rushing at us."

The worm was getting steadily closer. Piper moved her foot away from it's mouth.

"Who has a shield?" Annabeth asked.

No one raised their hands.

Annabeth sighed. "Alright. The only way out of this that I can see is up. We have to climb up to the roof. Then Percy can let the worms go. We'll leave them out here to dry, or find Leo and have him burn them. Let's go."

Hazel and Piper started climbing up. Luckily, the climbing wall at camp had left Piper perfectly capable of scaling a brick wall.

"Come on!" Hazel called down to Percy and Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded and clambered up. But Percy stayed on the ground, watching his wall.

"What are you waiting for, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth yelled down at him. "Come on!"

"I can't!" Percy called back desperately. "If I break my concentration, the wall is going to come down!"

"You better get up here right this minute or I swear I'll kill you."

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," Percy said. He turned back to the water and dropped the wall. Immediately, a mass of wriggling, squirming white worms fell and shot towards him.

With speed Piper didn't know they had, Annabeth and Hazel shrieked, flopped down on their stomachs and yanked Percy up to the roof, only a second before the Indos reached his shoes. They collapsed backwards, panting.

"Ow," Percy said. "I think you yanked my arms out of my sockets."

"If you do that again, Perseus Jackson," Annabeth growled. "I will make sure that you have a lot more to worry about than that."

"Okay," Percy squeaked.

Hazel stood and brushed herself off. "We'd better go find the others."

* * *

><p>It didn't take long.<p>

Almost as soon as the four of them had clambered off the roof and ran a few blocks away from the field of carnivorous worms, Frank and Jason had rushed up to them.

"Are you guys okay?" Frank said. "We've been looking everywhere for you."

"What happened?" Jason asked, catching sight of Percy's arm.

"Nothing," Percy said. "I almost dropped dead from being forced to carry a bunch of girls clothes around and then almost got eaten by a worm."

"WHAT?" both Jason and Frank exclaimed.

"We'll explain later," Hazel said. "Where's Leo?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't seen him since we split up."

"He's probably back at the ship," Annabeth said. "Come on."

They started back for the ship quietly, not really wanting to attract any more monsters. Unfortunately, before they had the ship in their sights, they ran into a sheep.

"A sheep?" Percy asked, confused. "What the Hades is a sheep doing in the middle of the road?"

"I'm getting worried..." Annabeth muttered. "No people, giant man-eating worms, and now a random sheep. Something isn't right."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "I've had the same feeling. We need to get back to the boat. Now."

Just then, the sheep lunged. It latched itself onto Jason's leg. He fell to the ground and with amazing speed, the sheep dragged him into the abandoned shop Annabeth had been looking at earlier.

"Jason!" Piper yelled. She heard him shout once as the sheep dragged him through the door, then nothing. She turned to the others. "We have to rescue him!"

"From a sheep?" Percy said like he still couldn't believe it.

"Actually, saving Jason from a sheep is looking pretty good right now," Hazel said, pointing down the street. "Guys! The worms are back!"

Indeed they were. Fat white lumps with teeth were inching their way down the street.

"Let's go," Percy said and they all ducked into the abandoned shop.

* * *

><p>"Oh, yuck," Piper said. "Take a whiff of this place."<p>

For a shop that had obviously been abandoned for years, it stank of sweat, wet wool, and smoke. Not exactly the things you'd expect to smell in an abandoned shop.

It was so dark, Piper couldn't see anything. "Jason?" She called softly into the darkness. He groaned.

Frank morphed into an owl and peered around the shop for a second before returning to his human form. "He's over there," he said, pointing to a corner.

Piper and the others rushed over. Jason was lying on the dusty floor, his leg bent at a weird angle, obviously broken. He was pale and his eyes were wide in fear.

"Piper..." he whispered.

"Shh, it's okay. You'll be okay. Anyone have some nectar or ambrosia?" Piper asked the others. Annabeth started digging in her pockets.

"Piper..." Jason said a little more urgently.

"We'll get you out of here, don't worry," Piper told him. "Can you walk."

He tried and moaned in pain.

"I'll take that as a no," Percy said. He slid his uninjured arm underneath Jason's. Frank took the other side and they helped Jason to his feet. Annabeth dug out a small square of ambrosia and handed it to Piper, who tried to give it to Jason.

"It's... it's... it's a... get out." He pushed her away. "Run. Go. Run. Now... it's a trap! He's behind you!" Jason pointed a trembling hand behind them.

Slowly, Piper turned... and gasped.

Standing so high that his head was almost brushing the ceiling was a giant. He was stroking a sheep in his palm and held a large club that was lit on fire at the end. He was wearing dirty, bloodstained rags with smoking holes burned through them. A broken smile creased his face, giving him a sinister look in the flickering torchlight.

"Demigods," he said in a voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in quite a few centuries. "It has been a long time since I have met any demigods. I have waited patiently to break you. Now my time has come. I shall have my revenge. And Gaea will reward me!" He glared at them. "Who's first?"

* * *

><p><strong>MWA HA HA HA HA! CLIFFHANGER!<strong>

**Well, that was a nice long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I liked writing it... and I enjoyed writing it a lot.**

**I PROMISE I WILL UPDATE! And if I don't you are free to chase me with pitchforks, Daleks, Orcs, Inferi, Dragons, Monsters, Evil Pink Teddy Bears, and any other means of punishment to get me to update sooner.**

**School starts in twenty days. Not looking forward to it. : (**

**QUIZ QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: What is this quote referring to? **

**"I hoped it met the boar of it's dreams down in Tartarus." ~Percy Jackson**

**IF YOU NAME THE BOOK THAT IT'S IN, YOU GET BONUS POINTS!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. And although I wish I owned a man-eating worm, that's not happening any time soon. **

**WISH ME LUCK, MY FRIENDS! FOR I AM GOING TO TEACH YOUNG CHILDREN (mostly boys) THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THEATER! I MAY NOT RETURN FROM THE DEPTHS OF THIS TORTURE! **

**I leave my story to... whoever wants it should I not return. But I will.**

**Probably...**

**I really need the man-eating worm now.**

**Me: No, I don't know how your children mysteriously disappeared... it wasn't my worm Fluffy or anything... he he he... NO! FLUFFY! PUT THE CHILD DOWN! Oops. Too late... ANGRY MOB! AAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!**

**Yeah... **

**REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22

**You are going to hate me now.**

**And I'm sorry, I really am. But I've got so much going for this fight scene and I don't want to mess it up. But then... It has come to my attention that there are only 36 days until the actual Mark of Athena comes out. Boy, have I got to get writing. **

**So... here is yet another Piper chapter that is just leading up to the next one. And I'm really sorry about that, but I've got to get things where I want them. Piper will probably narrate the next chapter as well. I like her POV for this. **

**I start high school tomorrow and I am so insanely nervous it isn't even funny. I was going to write more of this big fight, but I'm so distracted right now I don't want to mess things up. **

**Considering my lack of updates when I have nothing going on, _The Rants of the Mighty Athena_ is going on temporary hiatus until I finish this story. _PJO Songfics _has been discontinued and _Not A Question _will be completed whenever I get it in me to write a Percabeth fluff thing. Which is not at the moment. At the moment I want to watch Lord of the Rings. Mostly because I finished Season Four of Doctor Who yesterday and got really mad when they just shoved Matt Smith in there with no explanation and expected us to fabricate how David Tennant regenerated. Then I figured out that David Tennant still has _The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, and The End of Time Part 1 and 2_ for me to watch on Netflix. Unfortunately, those won't come for a while and I refuse to watch any more of Season 5 before then. Yeah. But anyway, I'll be focused on updating _The Mark of Athena_ as my sole priority. _The Random Adventures of Demigod Heroes _will still be going as well, but that's because it's chapter are basically all written out for me.**

**So you can flame, through pitchforks, take away my chocolate, but that's how things are and are going to be at least until I figure out what I'm doing with my life for the next year. **

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter! Allons-y!**

**Quiz Question Answer: It referred to the Clazmonian Sow (spelling error, probably) in _The Last Olympian_.**

* * *

><p>XIX<p>

Piper

Piper suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. There couldn't be a giant, not here, not now. They were supposed to be in Greece or Rome or wherever Gaea was.

Apparently, the others were thinking the same thing, because Frank stepped forwards, looking confused. "Um... who are you, then?"

The giant tilted his head. "Are you volunteering?"

"No," Frank said. "I just want to know which god you oppose."

The giant laughed. "God? I oppose no god. I am Cacus, son of Vulcan. I am the fire-breather! And I am the Supreme Interior Decorator!"

Piper would have laughed at that if she hadn't been trying to figure out a way to get them out of this.

"Supreme Interior Decorator?" Percy looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Now I've heard everything."

"Yes!" Cacus puffed out his chest in pride. "I decorate my home with the heads of my enemies! Would you like to join them?"

Percy suddenly looked sick. "Not so funny anymore."

Cacus happily ignored him, turning instead to sweep the room with his torch. "Here are my enemies!"

Piper braced herself for a horribly grotesque sight... and came face to face with a bunch of pictures of terrified looking people.

"Those... are the heads of your enemies?" Frank questioned.

Cacus nodded proudly. "Yes!"

"But they're pictures."

"Of the heads of my enemies!" Cacus exclaimed. He looked at them expectantly, waiting for them to get it.

"Okay..." Hazel said.

"These are the people of the town!" Cacus snatched a picture from the wall. "Here was the last owner of my home... portly fellow, quite fattening." He passed the picture down to Percy, who took it unenthusiastically.

Annabeth stepped forwards, looking confused. "Where are all the people now, then?"

"Gone," Cacus said.

"Gone where?"

"Just gone."

"You mean you let them go?" Frank asked hopefully.

Cacus laughed. "Of course not!"

"So... they're still in here?" Percy ventured.

"Don't be silly!" The giant grinned. "I ate their flesh!"

"... Oh," Percy said in a rather small voice.

"Time to go, I think," Annabeth said. "It's been nice talking with you, Cacus, but we really should be leaving."

"Yeah, off to save the world and all that," Percy said, stepping back and taking ahold of Jason again. "Sorry to bother you. Ta."

Cacus reached down and grabbed the front of his shirt. "You can't leave yet, half-blood. I haven't had dinner in..." The giant stopped to consider. "... about a week. I'm long overdue for the taste of human flesh." He grabbed Percy tighter and hoisted him up in the air. "Let's see, what am I in the mood for tonight..." He stomped around the small shop. "Medium well, cooked through, I'm not picky..." He stopped and grinned down at them. "How about we go with rare. Very rare... oh, what the Tartarus, let's just make it raw!" He started to lift Percy up to his mouth.

"Now, hold on a moment," Percy said, struggling to get his sword out of his pocket. "You don't want to eat me. I'm... salty. That's it, very salty. I'll taste terrible. So, if you could just put me down..."

"That excuse never works," Jason muttered.

Cacus laughed. "Amusing little half-blood! Perhaps I should wait and eat you last... no, I sense a... blessing." Cacus stopped, puzzled. "From a goddess. No... no, it can't... can't be possible."

"Yeah, well welcome to my world," Percy said. "Hi Cacus. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Hero of Olympus and the Mark of Athena."

"No!" Cacus yelled. "It can't be!" He hefted his club. His eyes suddenly were raging infernos. "If I can't kill you, boy, I shall have to make do with your friends!"

He raised the club, starting for a swing at the other five demigods. Piper looked around desperately. There was nowhere to go. The club would hit them either way. She braced herself as it started to fall towards them.

"No!" Percy shouted. He clapped his hands together. A surge of power flowed through the room and suddenly, holographic owl's wings were covering Percy's arms. They buffeted the stale air and the force pushed Cacus backwards, making his swing go wild and smashing into the side of the shop instead, tearing a large hole in the wood. The giant wailed in pain as splinters of wood rained down into his face and dropped Percy. Percy fell, turning his impact into a roll and coming up standing.

"Run!" Percy shouted. And suddenly, Frank was an elephant, Jason up on his back. He trumpeted and rushed out of the shop as fast as a fully-grown pachyderm could. Hazel drew here _spatha _and tore after him. Piper unsheathed her knife and followed, Annabeth and Percy hot on her heels.

The giant roared inside the shop. "You cannot run, puny demigods! I am Cacus, the Supreme Interior Decorator, and your flesh shall be my feast tonight, whether it is recognizable or not!"

"What the heck does he mean by that?" Percy shouted as he ran.

"Cacus is a fire-breather!" Annabeth yelled back. "I have a feeling that he means he doesn't care if we're burnt to a crisp!"

As if in agreement to her statement, a wave of heat suddenly blasted Percy, Annabeth and Piper off of their feet. Piper tumbled to the ground, head over heels.

"Ow," Percy muttered as he rolled over, looked upwards and gasped.

Cacus had blown a jettison of fire and burned the little shop into a smoldering pile of rubble. He bellowed and shot another wave, destroying the rest of the houses and shops within a fifty-foot radius.

Piper felt like she was being blasted with an extremely hot and smelly hairdryer. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as they started to run again.

Frank the elephant and Jason were almost out of sight. Hazel was about fifteen yards in front of Percy, Annabeth and Piper.

Cacus, meanwhile, was stomping around the village square, crushing more buildings. "You can run, demigods, but you can't hide! I will find you!"

Hazel had begun to slow down. "We... won't make it... to the ship!" she gasped, as they kept sprinting through the down, ducking through alleyways in an attempt _not _to get roasted.

"Yes... we... will!" Annabeth panted, putting on another short burst of speed.

They ducked inside one of the buildings that hadn't been burned yet to catch their breath. Cacus was tearing around outside, burning everything in his path. Piper had a feeling that if the townspeople were still alive, they wouldn't be too happy.

"How do we kill him?" Percy asked.

"Hercules did it last time," Annabeth said. "I think he strangled him."

"Oh, perfect," Percy said. "I'll just climb up there and hang like a demigod necklace. Yes, that's _totally _going to work."

"Well, don't blame me!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I'm not the one who said, 'Oh, Annabeth, it's just an empty shop. Stop being so paranoid.'"

"Do I really sound like that?" Percy wondered.

"Yes," Hazel told him.

"Guys!" Piper shushed her friends as Cacus's voice shouted from outside.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Cacus sang from an fearfully close distance. He paused. "No? Well, your loss."

And then the buildings to the sides of them were crashing down. Wood cracked and splintered. Bricks crumbled to the ground. Fiery tongues were licking their sanctuary, filling it with choking black smoke.

Hazel screamed as a supporting beam came hurtling down towards her head. Percy tackled her out of the way and the pair of them tumbled out of the building into the street.

"Why, hello!" Piper heard Cacus roar. She felt the intake of his breath. Annabeth gasped and ran out behind her boyfriend. Piper heard Percy's yell and then the giant bellowing in anger. At that moment, the heat became unbearable and she rushed out behind her friends.

The giant was angrily and unceasingly trying to burn them all, but Percy had another water shield up, protecting them. He looked back. "Run, you guys!"

Piper looked around. The alleyway was almost completely cut off, burning buildings collapsing in on themselves. There was a small smoldering hole in the rubble, big enough for them to get through, but the giant was sure to follow. Piper seriously doubted that they could make it in time.

"GO!" Percy shouted at them. Annabeth shook her head and grabbed his hand.

"I lost you once, Seaweed Brain. I'm not letting you go again." She stared up at the giant, who was now bashing the water wall with his club as if he could break it down. Percy flinched every time it made contact. "How long can you hold this for?"

"Um..." Percy considered that. "About another ten seconds."

"Then we're doomed," Hazel put in.

"Not yet, you're not," another voice came in from outside of the alley. Suddenly, a large, scaly beast was crashing through the piles of rubble. It roared and a fountain of acid erupted from it's throat. It stepped in front of the demigods just as Percy's water wall fell.

"A dragon?" Percy exclaimed. "This day just keeps getting better."

"Frank!" Hazel shrieked. The dragon curled it's head around and winked at her. It roared, as if saying, _Go_!

They did, tearing through the gaping hole Frank the dragon had made in the wall of debris. They rushed through the town, which wasn't really a town anymore. Cacus had done a pretty good job of destroying most of it.

Piper could hear Cacus yelling in pain behind them. Frank roared as the two fought. Hazel kept looking over her shoulder, like she wanted to go and help.

And suddenly, the sounds of battle behind them stopped. Piper, Annabeth, Hazel and Percy slowed to a stop.

"What's going on?" Hazel asked fearfully.

"Either Frank won, which is really good news for us or Cacus won, which is really bad," Percy panted, hands on his knees.

"Let's hope it's the former," Annabeth said.

"I think we're going to find out..." Piper pointed to the shadow that was making it's way around the corner.

The four of them held their breath as... Cacus appeared, chortling. Hazel looked like she was going to start crying.

"Well, that was fun!" the giant laughed.

"Not good," Percy decided.

"What did you do to Frank?" Hazel yelled, just as the person in question stumbled around the corner in human form. He made for Cacus again. The giant just laughed and picked him up.

"Unfortunately, I hoped you would have stayed unconscious a little longer," the giant pouted. "And I'm too busy to eat you right now." He placed Frank up on a mound of rubble and, sweeping a couple of piles of bricks and metal scraps from the street, made a make-shift prison cell around him. Then the giant turned to the others. "Now for you."

Piper could see Frank straining to transform into some animal that would get him out of there, but the cell was too compact and turning into a dragon had taken a lot out of him. He shook his head helplessly and mouthed the word, _Run!_

Piper decided to do as he said. She grabbed Hazel's arm and yanked the younger girl after her. Percy and Annabeth were running behind them. Cacus was grumbling about how demigods never seemed to cooperate and was speed-walking after them.

Piper turned a sharp corner and pulled Hazel into an alleyway. They dodged flames and debris as they made their way down the alley, heading for the other side. Just as they almost reached it, a wall of fire erupted in front of them.

Hazel, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth skidded to a stop. There was nowhere to go, except back. And back was where the giant was waiting. Piles of rubble was stacked high into the air, leaving no way out.

They were trapped. Again.

And this time help wasn't coming.

Piper drew her knife, her friends unsheathing their weapons. If they were going to go down in a cramped, burning alleyway, they were going to go fighting.

"Nice knowing you guys," Percy muttered as Riptide sprang to full size in his hand.

"Ditto," Hazel said.

Piper nodded. Her voice was stuck in her throat, which was a very big problem that she'd have to figure out later.

Annabeth just stared at Percy. He wouldn't look at her. Suddenly, she grabbed his shirt and yanked him around to face her.

"Annabeth?"

"Oh shut up, Seaweed Brain. I've been waiting six months to do this." She smiled as he stared at her with a shocked expression on his face. And in a flurry, Annabeth kissed him.

Percy's sword hand seemed to falter. It lowered as he soaked in the feeling of Annabeth kissing him. And then he was kissing her back.

An eternity seemed to pass, but in reality it was just a few seconds before Annabeth let go of Percy and backed away slightly. She gave him a hundred-megawatt smile. "It's kind of a tradition, right?"

Percy just stood there with a kind of dopey look on his face. He cleared his throat and swallowed before raising his sword again and grinning back at his girlfriend. "Let's go kick some giant _podex_."

They charged.

* * *

><p><strong>Well... hope that little Percabeth moment at the end made up for the disappointed happenings of this chapter. <strong>

**LEO GET YOUR BUTT INTO THE STORY NOW!**

**I need to write him in soon... almost there. **

**Good luck everyone who starts school soon! Bon chance! Break a leg!**

**Quiz Question of the Update: What are the names of the two _empousai _that Percy meets at his freshman orientation (unfortunately, nothing that was exciting happened at mine, except getting to see my friends again and having a moth thrown in my hair by this guy I nicknamed PDA (Pretty Darn Annoying) because he calls me Moth because I have an irrational fear of the little hairy buggers)?**

**Disclaimer: If I owned PJO, I wouldn't have to go to school anymore and I wouldn't be sitting here writing this sentence. In other words, I don't. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Sup, guys? I know it's been a while. But what do I care? I do what I want, when I want.**

**Not really. It's just school has been so dang busy I haven't had time with much else. My fanfiction and drawing time has been pushed to late at night and snuck in when I'm not paying attention in class... mostly science. Yeah... my science binder is 99% junk, 1% science. **

**And... yeah. Okay, so... this is the SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER OF THIS DANG FANFICTION! There are... what... Oh. My. Raxacoricofallapatorious. 15 DAYS UNTIL MOA! 15 DAYS UNTIL MOA! And since I've updated like two chapters in two separate stories in three weeks... I won't get this to my BIG FAT CLIMAX until like... December. So... since I've got so many untied-in ties here and I don't want them to be squashed by Rick's amazing Mark of Athena, I will be ending this story next chapter and starting a SEQUEL! Any title ideas? So... I'll finish this and take about a month off to plan the sequel and read the real MoA and FREAK OUT AT THE AWESOMENESS! And no, I probably won't write a story for the next book like I did this one... I don't know. I might.**

**Doctor Who update: For those of you who are interested. I have finished season 5. And watched the specials with David Tennant. Cried so hard during End of Time. Both parts. It was just... amazing. I'm gonna miss David so much... but I won't say that Matt hasn't captured my attention... he is awesome. **

**Disclaimer: MY STORY IS ENDING BEFORE MOA COMES OUT! I THINK THAT'S PROOF ENOUGH!**

**Oh, BTW, I have been informed by reviewers that Percy and Annabeth fought Cacus in the Demigod Diaries. But I would just like to point out that I came up with that even BEFORE TDD came out... I think I updated the introducing Cacus chapter the day before the book came out. So... ALL MY IDEA! I DID NOT SQUANDER FROM RICK RIORDAN! He is awesome... but great minds think alike! XD**

* * *

><p>XX<p>

Piper

Piper was sure she was going to die.

The fight wasn't going well. With Frank trapped and Jason injured and Leo Zeus knew where, she and the others were pretty much on their own. And against a fire-breathing giant, without a plan, after being run through a town and generally exhausted, the four of them weren't doing too great.

At the moment, Piper and Hazel were trying to get the giant from the back, while Annabeth and Percy were being distracting and dodging and generally trying not to die.

"Oi! Beefy!" Percy shouted. "I'm over here! Come and get me!"

Cacus growled and turned towards the son of Poseidon, just as Annabeth stabbed him in the ankle with her dagger, withdrawing it like a flash of lightning and ducking behind him. Cacus yelped and turned to find the source of his discomfort... just as Percy stabbed him in the other foot.

Hazel, meanwhile, was busy trying to extract some of the metals from the ruins that surrounded them. She was sweating with the strain and looked about ready to collapse from exhaustion. Piper watched her back as the other two fought.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked.

Hazel groaned in response. "Duck!"

Piper hit the deck just as a large ball of multicolored metals and bit flew through the air, hitting Cacus in the side of the head and causing him to stagger and fall over into a heap.

"Woo!" Piper cheered, just as Hazel swayed on her feet and collapsed to the ground.

Piper rushed over. Hazel's eyes were fluttering closed. Piper cursed in Greek as the younger girl went limp in her arms.

"Guys!" she yelled over to Percy and Annabeth. "Hazel's out for the count!"

"Great!" Percy shouted sarcastically.

"Unfortunately, Cacus isn't!" Annabeth pointed to the giant that was slowly getting up again.

"Ow." Cacus blinked as he rose unsteadily to his feet. "What was that."

"Well, flame boy, that was the sound of you almost dying. Sadly, the tune was off," Percy said. "Care to try again?"

Cacus glared at Percy, trying to decide if squashing him was worth his time and effort.

"Hey, Cacus!" Piper called up to him, layering her voice with charmspeak. "Why don't you stop trying to kill us and show us some of your interior decorating skills?"

Cacus pondered that for a moment, then grinned. "Okay!" He snatched up some bricks and scraps and piled them into a statue of sorts, then looked back at Piper proudly. "How's that?"

"Very nice!" Piper applauded. "Why don't you go show that to someone else?"

Cacus nodded happily and started to make his way down the street. Percy and Annabeth rushed over to Hazel. Annabeth checked her vital signs. "She'll be fine, just passed out." She looked uneasily up the street. "We should go before he comes back."

Percy nodded and hoisted Hazel into a fireman's carry. "Is it just me, or was that relatively too easy?"

Just then, the figure of Cacus paused halfway through the town. He stood there for a moment, then turned. "Hey! You tricked me!"

"Too easy," Percy decided. He looked around wildly for a place to set Hazel down safely. There wasn't one.

Annabeth placed her hand on his arm. "She'll be fine. Cacus won't bother with her."

Percy looked at the giant that was stomping back towards them. He nodded and gingerly lay Hazel on the ground.

Annabeth pulled out a ball of blue cloth from her pocket. She grinned, pulled it on... and vanished.

Piper stared. Percy mumbled, almost to himself, "Gods, I've missed that." He drew his sword. Not really sure what else to do, Piper raised her dagger.

"Let's go," Annabeth whispered by her ear. Percy reached down and squeezed the air. Piper couldn't see it, but she was pretty sure that Annabeth's invisible hand was entwined with his.

Cacus lumbered back into the street. His club was smoking and he set it on fire again.

"You shall not escape me, half-bloods!" he bellowed. "I shall feast! You will die!"

"You wish," Percy said.

Three demigods against one giant=not great odds.

Cacus was basically failing on the offense, swinging his club and roaring. If he had been their same size, he would't have almost hit them at all. But as it was, with a fifteen foot long club, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping them on their toes.

But what amazed Piper the most was Percy and Annabeth. They fought together like they'd been doing it for years, which, in actuality, they had. Their movements flowed together like water and they both seemed to know what the other was doing before they did it. Even though Annabeth was invisible, Percy knew exactly where she was and she distracted the giant while Percy struck. It would've been almost beautiful, if it hadn't been so deadly. It made Piper feel positively useless in comparison.

Cacus was obviously getting flustered and Piper decided to step in. Percy nodded to her and she ran, leaping into the air, just as the giant bent down. She caught her dagger on the singed rag he was wearing and started climbing up his body.

Cacus was too busy being distracted by Percy and the invisible Annabeth to notice her... that is, until she got up to his head. Then he felt her climbing around. And as he reached up to swat her off under pure instinct, she realized that it hadn't been one of her better ideas.

Too late. The giants hand sent her flying through the air and tumbling to the ground.

She heard Annabeth call her name as she hit the ground. Hard. Piper groaned and tried to get back up. She couldn't see her dagger anywhere and her body was so bruised and battered that she just wanted to lie there and pass out. Her head was spinning, making the battle very disorienting. She rolled over onto her side and pain shot up through her side. She had definitely broken a rib. Or two.

Percy looked over at her, but just as quickly had to roll out of the way of Cacus's oncoming club. He jumped back up and slashed with his sword.

The world faded in and out of Piper's eyes, making it hard to tell exactly what was going or how long it had been. But the next thing she knew was Annabeth screaming, "Percy!" and a loud thump.

Piper managed to turn her head just enough to see Annabeth's now visible body sprawled on the cobblestones of the street. Her hat lay a few feet away. Cacus was looking puzzled and pleased at the same time. He chortled. "There, Son of Poseidon! How do you like that? Ready to give up?"

Percy looked over at Annabeth, a fire burning in his eyes. "No," he said. "Because now there's nothing that's going to stop me from killing you!"

And suddenly, it seemed like the colossus and the demigod were evenly matched. Percy was fighting like Piper had never seen him fight before. Water was buffeting Cacus from all different directions. Cuts were appearing in the giants skin as Riptide struck again and again. The giant whirled his club around, fire mixing with the water and creating a deadly ring around the pair. Percy was everywhere, seemingly at once. The giants club swung at him, but Percy seemed to duck and dodge it with ease. The spectacle made Piper feel giddy, like she wanted to jump up and start dancing around like a cheerleader.

And then everything went wrong. The giant got in a lucky strike. Piper saw the club come forwards and suddenly the black-haired demigod was flying backwards so fast he was a blur. Piper saw him hit one of the walls that was still standing, if just barely. He slid down to the ground, unmoving.

Piper's heart crawled into her throat, or it would've if it hadn't hurt so much. Cacus looked around in glee, trying to decide which one of them to eat first.

Piper closed her eyes. _Please,_ she prayed. _Please, if you ever valued our existence at all, if you've ever loved us, help up. Please._

Thunder rumbled slightly in the distance, but Piper knew that wasn't going to help them at all. She kept her eyes closed, waiting. Suddenly, there was another sound mixed in with the thunder. The purring of a motor, making it's way down the street... but all the people in the town were dead... no one was coming... unless...

Piper opened her eyes just as Leo Valdez made his grand entrance.

On a moped.

"Hey!" Leo exclaimed.

Cacus turned, looking annoyed that there was still someone who was still alive. "What do you want?"

"I want to know who you are and why my friends are lying unmoving over there."

Cacus sighed. "Your friends are dead, boy. Or they will be in just a few minutes. And I'm really running out of patience for this sort of thing. I'll give you thirty seconds to run or become my dinner. Your choice."

Leo looked desperately around the circle of destruction. Piper saw something flick across his features... doubt? Fear? He looked back behind him. Piper vaguely remembered something he'd told Jason and her on the back of the dragon. _I run away._ Along those lines. Her mind was too mixed up to remember exactly.

"Leo..." she tried."

He looked at her and almost seemed like he was going to leave them. But then, he reached into his tool belt and pulled out a large hammer.

"The thing is... I'm not going to leave my friends. Go find a McDonalds somewhere, fat boy."

Cacus looked annoyed. "Fine. I'll just finish you off quickly. Goodbye." He blew a spurt of fire at Leo. Piper almost laughed aloud.

The flames died away and Leo was still standing there, perfectly unharmed.

"_What_?" Cacus exclaimed. "I... wha..."

Leo chuckled. "Yeah, news flash. You aren't the only one who's good with fire." His hands erupted into flames. "FLAME ON!"

That wasn't the most cool battle cry, but Piper supposed that it would do for the situation. Leo charged the giant bare handed. Cacus still looked shocked, but he blew fire right back at Leo. Two walls of flame burst together, sending tongues of flame throughout the alley, licking Piper's face with heat.

The flames died away, but almost immediately spurted up again. More and more crashed together, making the sky turn black with smoke and making every piece of wood it got near crumble to ash.

Piper lost track of time again. When her eyes opened again, the giant had his mouth open, trying vainly to breathe fire. He seemed out.

"Look who's lost," Leo said. He was breathing heavily and he held Piper's knife in his hand.

"I have not lost!" the giant yelled. "I am the Supreme Interior Decorator! You shall not defeat me!"

"I accept that challenge," Leo said. And he hurled the knife straight into Cacus's chest.

Cacus roared in pain. He clawed at his chest, trying to get the knife out, but his hands crumbled into ash, blowing away in the wind, followed by the rest of his body.

Leo stumbled. Piper tried to call out to him, her voice hoarse from the soot. He looked over at her just before he collapsed.

The last thing Piper saw before she passed out was the remains of the giant filtering through the air and her friends lying in the street, her wishing she could help them.

* * *

><p><strong>MWA HA HA HA! I LOVE FIGHT SCENES!<strong>

**Yeah... that was fun.**

**Oo, other stuff I'm doing right now: Knowledge Bowl, Debate, and Theater. SO AWESOME! And I'm helped direct the Christmas Pagant at my church. He he he. Am I in over my head? Yes, yes I am.**

**So... one more chapter. Ideas for next story title?**

**I will be doing the next two PJO ship weeks... Jeyna/Jasper this week and Percabeth next. Go read HecateA's stories for Frazel ship week... and her MoA. IT IS COMPLETE AND THE SEQUEL STARTED! And it is so amazing. Also, she did not give me permission to write this. MWA HA HA HA!**

**But seriously. Read it.**

**Oh, here's a poem about Fanfiction writers that I came up with during a random bout of poetry the other day:**

**_IDEAS FLOW FORTH FROM CAVERNS AND CRANNIES, LEAVING US FRANTICALLY WRITING IN JAMMIES! _**

**_TO THE COMPUTERS WE FLY AS THEY POUR FROM THE TIPS, OF OUR LOVELY FINGERS AND SWEET AND SOFT LIPS! _**

**_WE SHALL WRITE ALL THE DAY AND WRITE ALL THE NIGHT, FOR NOTHING CAN DETER US FROM OUR MISSION TO WRITE! _**

**_AND IF EVER WE PASS OUT UPON THE KEYS, THE REVIEWS SHALL CHIME, BEGGING, "GIVE US MORE PLEASE!" _**

**_AND WE SHALL CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE DO FOR SOME FUN, BECAUSE WE ARE AMAZING, FANGIRLS HAVE WON! _**

**_AND THOUGH WE MIGHT WANT TO DISCONTINUE AND REST, WE SHALL NOT STOP BECAUSE WE ARE THE BEST!_**

**__Paste this on your profile if it applies to FANGIRLS/BOYS/PEOPLE EVERYWHERE!**


	24. Chapter 24

**See? I told you I'd update before The Mark of Athena came out.**

**Of course, some of you probably already have it. But here, it's 9:48 p.m. and 30 seconds and I'm sleep deprived and decided to write this because, well, what the Hades. So, if you've already read it... DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS!**

**Yeah! **

**This is gonna be one of my short author's notes, because I know you want to get on with the story. Plus, I'm kind of sad that it's ending. I realized I have a LOT of plot holes in this thing though, hopefully something I will get fixed during the sequel. **

**Yes, you heard that right. THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL! Probably not for another month, cause I need to work on other things, like my other stories and my Halloween costume... just saying. **

**So... enjoy the last chapter of my Mark of Athena! I hope it's only as half as good as the real one's going to be!**

* * *

><p>XXI<p>

Percy

For some reason, dreams always found Percy, whether he wanted them to or not.

In this one, he was basically... nowhere. He didn't see anything, couldn't remember how he had gotten there. For a moment, a scary sense of deja vu rose up inside of him. He tried not to panic as he squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. The fear faded. He remembered. Getting hit by that giant club and thrown into a wall was _not _on his to do list.

Percy sat up. "Hello?" His own voice echoed back at him. Where were his friends? For that matter, where the Hades was he?

"You are in my realm," a voice whispered from the darkness, as if reading his thoughts. Instantly, Riptide was in his hand, the usual familiar glow muted by the black of his surroundings.

"_Your _realm?" Percy asked, turning in a slow circle. "Who are you?"

A woman stepped out, flowing as if she were made of shadows, like Percy's surroundings. She seemed to be cloaked in darkness, the black rippling around her like a cape. Her long dark hair billowed about like a cloud, merging with her clothes and the background, making her seem invisible, yet she was there at the same time. She flickered back and forth, like a ripple on the water. "Who do you think I am, Percy Jackson?"

"Someone who should butt out of my head."

The woman tilted her head at him, making her flowing black self twist and turn. "I had heard you weren't very polite, boy. Perhaps you should show some respect."

"Yeah, and that'll happen as soon as you tell me who you are."

"I am Night."

"Oh, yes, because that's _very_ helpful," Percy said.

The goddess (at least, that's what Percy assumed she was, as they had a habit of breaking into his sleep and messing up his life) laughed softly. "It should be, although your tone suggests otherwise. I am the goddess of the ghosts, of magic, and a servant of Gaea."

"Then why isn't she here? Send you to do her dirty work?"

"Oh, I hardly think my task is to be qualified as 'dirty work.' But yes, she has sent me to capture you."

"I would've thought she had used the giant for that," Percy muttered.

"No, the lumbering idiot Cacus was a mere distraction. I am worse, much worse," the goddess told him.

"You said magic, right?" Percy strained to remember long conversations with Annabeth that usually led to them sword fighting, which was the only part Percy had found particularly interesting. "You're Hecate."

The goddess looked amused. "Correct. Perhaps you aren't as worthless as I first thought."

"Great, glad I meet your approval," Percy said sarcastically.

"Yes, you'll do. Now, Percy Jackson, a word of advice," Hecate said. "The minor gods turned in the last war, if you'll recall. You thought you set everything right, didn't you, what with your cabins and all at that silly camp of yours."

"Yeah, so?"

"The tide is turning against you. If you do not want a repeat of the last... chaos, I'd recommend dealing with the conflicts between your Greeks and Romans. Things may be bought, but they come with a price. And you are the only one, I think, who can pay it." The darkness suddenly swirled up into Percy's face, the goddess's unfathomable eyes boring into his. "But are you willing to?"

Percy's blood ran cold. "W-what do you mean?"

Hecate backed away. "Just remember what I have told you. And now, I think, it's time for you to sleep again. And dream. Dream of horrors and nightmares and ghosts and shades. Dream, Percy Jackson, of the life that awaits you. I must deal with your friends."

"Don't you dare-" Whatever threat Percy was going to make was cut off as he felt himself falling again, down into sleep, the goddess standing above him, looking on without feeling.

* * *

><p>When he opened his eyes again, he was home.<p>

The streets of New York City glistened in the night air before him. He was standing at the top of the stairs of a subway station. He could feel Riptide in his pocket, but suddenly he didn't care.

He drank in the sights like he was seeing it for the first time. Buildings so tall, they seemed like they would never end, never stop touching the sky. The low rumble of thousands of motors that never ceased, like a great beast slumbering down below the ground. Throngs of people, pushing and shoving and never noticing one demigod, standing alone on the street, gaping as people rushed by him. He had never felt so small in the city that he loved, and hoped he never would again.

Percy started down the streets, not really knowing where he was going, not really caring. He passed by Central Park and smiled, remembering the time that he and Nico opened the door of Orpheus. The Williamsburg Bridge, where Annabeth had taken a knife for him. The Merriot Hotel, where he had met Rachel before going down into the Labyrinth. The building where he and Blackjack had been detoured by Dionysus on their way to follow Thalia, Grover, Zoe, and Bianca on their quest. His old school and the alleyway where he had met Tyson. The Empire State Building loomed in the distance. All of the sights from his past life, a life so far away from now that seemed like it belonged to someone else.

And then he realized his feet had carried him home. To the place where he knew his mother and Paul were sleeping, waiting for their son to return to them. He would surprise them.

His speed picked up. His feet pounded the pavement as he raced towards one of the three places he had missed so much. Back to people he loved.

He would've gotten there too, if it weren't for the teenager falling from the sky.

The next thing he knew, Percy was flat on his stomach, all of the air knocked out of him. He felt something heavy lying on top of him, not moving. He managed to shove the thing off and roll over.

A teenage boy was lying on the sidewalk, about his age, unconscious. Percy took in the blonde hair, the familiar purple t-shirt. He didn't just recognize it, he _knew _it.

He glared up at the sky. What were the gods playing at now?

The boy's eyelids slid open, revealing blue. He groaned. Percy stared in shock at someone who shouldn't be there, someone who was totally wrong, someone who had his own home, far on the other side of the country.

"_Jason_?"

* * *

><p><strong>MWA HA HA HA! AND I LEAVE YOU WITH A CLIFFHANGER!<strong>

**Oh, you know that Rick is SO going to do that. Just toughening you up. **

**So... I hope that got you excited for the sequel. I have TOTALLY practically spun off what I think is going to happen in the Mark of Athena and it's going to be basically my own series. So... be on the lookout for the sequel, coming soon to a FanFiction site near you! **

**I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY! When I started writing I had NO IDEA I'd be so widely accepted. I only expected like fifty reviews for this entire thing and I've got OVER FOUR FREAKING HUNDRED! So... thanks. I love you all, even the flamers, not that there were many of you... thanks for putting up with my wackiness and insanity and totally crazy plot points that are SO off the mark it's not even funny. Thanks for every favorite, review, and stalk. I hope you enjoyed this and are looking forward to more, because I know I am!**

**I now have to go tape grass onto a dress (it's Homecoming week and tomorrow is Safari day, okay? I'm going as grass XD) and so I'll leave you with one final Disclaimer:**

**Disclaimer: PeaceLoveAndCheese doesn't own this, even though she would like to, but she loves you all so much that she never could lie to y'all! (What am I talking about, I'd lie! Geez, PJO rights, give em' here!)**

**Rick: No.**

**Me: Pwease?**

**Rick: No.**

**Love you! Love pie! Love PJO!**

**xxBeccaxx**

**P.S. Once I actually read the real Mark of Athena... anyone wanna fangirl it with me? Or discuss? DISCUSS DISCUSS DISCUSS!**

**Thank you once again and have a happy sparkly day!**

**: )8**


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